AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is proposing a full state quarantine for gypsy moth and is now accepting written comments.
This proposed rule amends a state quarantine against the insect to prevent its movement from all parts of the state. This quarantine is necessary to protect other state’s forest and landscape tree resources, said DACF officials in a press release on March 20.
The gypsy moth is also a federally regulated pest, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine will mimic the full state quarantine.
The proposal would add all of Aroostook County, large portions of Piscataquis and Somerset and some areas in other counties to existing quarantine areas, thus covering the entire state, according to the DACF’s map.
Items under the regulation would include trees and shrubs that are not greenhouse-grown, logs, pulpwood, bark and bark products, and mobile homes and associated equipment. The proposal would allow these items to move within the restricted area, but not outside of that area unless specific conditions — such as a USDA certificate, compliance agreement or specified research purpose — are met.
For more details, see the full proposal at www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/downloads/
gypsy_moth_quarantine/001c271_03-11-2019.pdf.
The department will accept written comments until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26. Contact Gary Fish, state horticulturist at the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, via email at gary.fish@maine.gov, telephone at (207) 287-7545, or mail comments to him at 28 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0028.
