NEW YORK STATE ANNOUNCES EFFORTS TO HELP CONTROL SPREAD OF SIREX WOOD WASP

[CHIMO]

ALBANY, NY -- (09/14/2006; 1409)(EIS) -- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Denise M. Sheehan and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (DAM) Commissioner Patrick H. Brennan today announced a comprehensive program to help limit the spread of a serious forest health pest which can harm pine forests, the Sirex Wood Wasp.

The Sirex Wood Wasp, Sirex noctilio, was first discovered in New York State in a bark beetle trap in September 2004 in the City of Fulton, Oswego County as part of the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Program. This exotic invasive species, native to Europe and a significant pine tree pest in Australia, Africa and South America, is suspected of arriving in wood packing material and has now spread into areas of New York State.

Following the detection of the wasp, DEC, DAM, the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Forest Service (USFS) formed a Sirex Management Team in 2005. The team conducted extensive surveys for the presence of the wasp. Surveys conducted to date have found the wasp in portions of the following 22 counties: Oswego, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Allegany, Erie, Genesee, Jefferson, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Oneida, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Wyoming, Yates, Chautauqua, Madison, Broome and Cattaraugus counties. The Sirex Wood Wasp has also been discovered in a number of southern Ontario, Canada locations, and in Pennsylvania.

The Sirex Management Team currently is studying additional issues related to limiting the movement of certain pine wood products from infested areas. Team members have been meeting with the Empire State Forest Products Association (ESFPA) and forestry industry representatives to examine the processes used by the forestry industry and to determine additional measures that could be taken to mitigate and prevent the spread of this invasive pest. The State also is working closely with the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) and Cornell University on applied research related to the insect pest.

http://www.eisinc.com/release/storiesh/NYSDEC.791.html