{"id":2237137,"date":"2024-05-04T11:11:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T15:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/game-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth\/"},"modified":"2024-05-04T11:15:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T15:15:01","slug":"game-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/game-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaming authorities to treat 124,000 acres for sponge moths"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgame-commission-to-spray-124000-acres-for-spongy-moth%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2237137&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pennsylvania officials are \u200bincreasing efforts to control the spongy moth invasion. The Pennsylvania Game Commission plans to invest $2.4 million to spray 124,000 acres, targeting regions across the state. The aim is to safeguard habitats, particularly oak trees, from \u2064the moth&#8217;s harmful effects. Chief Forester Paul\u2063 Weiss highlights\u200d the urgency of the\u200b situation due to previous severe\u2062 damage. Pennsylvania authorities are intensifying measures to \u2062combat the spongy moth invasion. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is allocating $2.4 million to treat 124,000 acres statewide, focusing\u200d on preserving \u2064habitats, especially oak\u200c trees, from the detrimental impact of the moth. Chief Forester Paul Weiss emphasizes the critical nature of the situation following past significant damage.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2014 Pennsylvania officials are stepping up their efforts to control the spongy moth to prevent its spread.<\/p>\n<p>The invasive insect, formerly called the gypsy moth, has established itself in the commonwealth and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-indiana-students-are-flocking-to-private-schools-homeschooling\/\" title=\"Report: Indiana Students Are Flocking To Private Schools, Homeschooling\">numbers fluctuate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will spend $2.4 million to spray 124,000 acres, up from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_e6a5a3e4-df94-11ed-a071-87fd0d450abc.html\">109,000 acres<\/a><\/strong> last year and 63,000 acres in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Based on commission surveys of egg masses, spraying will occur in the\u00a0Southcentral, Northcentral, Southeast, Southwest, and Northeast parts of the commonwealth. The aim is to protect habitat and prevent the moths from harming oak trees especially.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, the year before, they hit really bad in the central part of the state,\u201d\u00a0said commission Chief Forester\u00a0Paul Weiss. \u201cWhen July rolled around, there were no leaves left on any of the trees. If you\u2019d have been hiking around in July, it would\u2019ve been full sun in the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lack of leaf cover can lead to wildfires, he said, as the sunlight dries out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/please-sanction-the-hell-out-of-flamin-hot-doritos-critics-blast-doritos-over-super-bowl-commercial\/\" title=\"\u2018Please Sanction The Hell Out Of Flamin\u2019 Hot Doritos\u2019: Critics Blast Doritos Over Super Bowl Commercial\">forest floor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat you see in high-population areas, everything will be covered by caterpillars,\u201d Weiss said.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will also spray their lands to limit spongy moth numbers and defoliation. The department aims to spray 228,000 acres. Weiss noted that, on some days, the commission and the department use the same airports to spray the forests.<\/p>\n<p>On state lands, defoliation dropped dramatically last year, from 850,000 acres in 2022 to 440,000 acres in 2023, Forest Health Manager Rosa Yoo noted in a DCNR <a href=\"https:\/\/www.media.pa.gov\/pages\/dcnr_details.aspx?newsid=1074\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: 'Pipeline' to Obama Admin Seen as 'Currency'\">press release<\/a><\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the goal of those programs are mitigation, not elimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s something we just have to live with, we do the best we can to suppress it in the areas that we can,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cIt\u2019s too big of a population, too widespread \u2014 we\u2019ll never eradicate it. We just have to pick out our most important areas and try to protect them as best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not spraying for the spongy moth would have consequences for some of Pennsylvania\u2019s most well-known wildlife.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that oak forest habitats are tremendously valuable to all wildlife,\u201d David Gustafson, director of the Game Commission\u2019s Bureau of Wildlife Habitat Management, said in a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.media.pa.gov\/pages\/game-commission-details.aspx?newsid=649\">press release<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cEverything from squirrels to bears to turkeys will have populations fluctuate based on acorn crops. If acorn production is low, bears will den earlier, weigh less, produce fewer and smaller cubs and get into more nuisance situations \u2026 Wild turkey and ruffed grouse populations also depend on acorns. So the actions we take now help to keep all of that in balance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pennsylvania officials are intensifying efforts to combat the spongy moth, previously known as the gypsy moth, to curb its expansion. The invasive insect has taken hold in the state, with varying population levels. This year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will allocate $2.4 million to treat 124,000 acres, an increase from 109,000 acres<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2237138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23320565820735-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2237137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23320565820735-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2237138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}