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HOULTON — On Oct. 19, the Houlton Rotary Club had its luncheon meeting and a new member Tracy Rockwell, director of the Houlton Higher Education Center, was inducted by Leigh Cummings, her sponsor Otis Smith and President Jane Torres.
Accompanying the guest speaker Dave Struble was his guest Dan Jacobs, the local forester with the Maine Forest Service.
Forrest Barnes introduced Struble, who is an entomologist which means that he studies insects and specifically those affecting the forests of the state of Maine. The focus of his discussion was the spruce budworm.
The spruce budworm is a native insect and lives on the needles of spruce and fir. They can kill a tree by eating its needles year after year. Between 1975 and 1990 the state lost 20 to 25 million cords of spruce and fir to the spruce budworm. This infestation is cyclical at a 40-year cycle rate and that is in sync with the maturing of spruce and fir. There has been a period of dormancy, but in 2012 it was discovered that a new cycle was beginning in Quebec, Canada.
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By 2015, 15 million acres of forest had been affected with light defoliation. In just three years the infestation spread from the St. Lawrence River Valley halfway into the “Crown of Maine.” Foresters have been advising landowners to harvest their spruce and fir to keep ahead of the degradation. The regrowth of spruce and fir now is occurring at a slower rate, similar to the regeneration of the 1950’s. The foresters do not expect the destruction to reach the proportions of the mid 1980’s because of this smaller level of regrowth. Traps filled with the pheromones of female moths are being set to capture the male moths. This procedure aids in the study of the level of the infestation.
Foresters have been able to assess that the spruce budworm activity at this time is not at an extreme level. Maps are being developed by the University of Maine to evaluate areas of the outbreak. The Canadians are spraying with bacillus thuringiensis and having some success but Struble does not envision this for Maine because of the cost and spraying would have to be permitted by the state of Maine.
The Forest Service prefers to rely on industry leaders and University studies in the department’s decision making. Targeted harvesting will be used as a control method The Maine Forest Service website shows lots of graphs and maps on its website for interested parties to view. References are on the site for what is happening north of Maine in Quebec, and comparative photos of the 1970’s and today.
There is a poster that can be downloaded titled the “Return of Spruce Budworm”. Also, interested parties can seek more information at forestinfor@maine.gov or call 287-2431. This number puts you in touch with the Maine Forest Service Insect and Disease Laboratory.
