LBAM discovered in Southern California counties

Growers have been put on alert after light brown apple moth (LBAM) was discovered in California's Los Angeles and Solano counties. The Los Angeles County find was the 1st discovery of the pest outside the state's Bay Area and Central Coast regions. California Dept of Food and Agriculture is asking wholesale nurseries in the infestation areas to sign compliance agreements stating they'd inspect host plants before shipment.

Officials find more apple moths in California
California Dept of Food and Ag. announced that light brown apple moth was detected in another part of N. California. The federal quarantine for this pest, now approximately 182 sq. miles is expected to grow. LBAM was found May 9 in a residential area of Napa. The quarantine contains portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin and Santa Clara counties. It's expected to include Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties soon.

California tries alternative LBAM control
California Dept of Food and Ag. in August began treating residential areas in Oakley and Napa for light brown apple moths with pheromone "twist ties". The ties are twisted loosely around branches and fence posts. The ties are supposed to distract the moths and keep them from breeding. Studies have shown interfering with their breeding cycle helps eradicate the pests. The ties will be removed or replaced in 90 days.

In May 2007, the USDA announced the adoption of a federal quarantine to contain the spread of the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM)
The quarantine affects the CA counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Franciso, and San Mateo. The quarantive covers the movement of nursery stock: cut flowers; garlands, wreaths ro greenery of any plants; trees and bushed including cut Christmas trees; green waste; fruits and vegetables; hay, straw, fodder and plant litter; bulk herbs and spices; and any other products, articles or conveyance determined by an inspector that present a hazard of spreading LBAM.

For Production Nurseries, the quarantine establishes two levels of quarantine action and compliance, one for nurseries withing a 1.5 mile radius of a postive finding of LBAM and one for nurseries outside the 1.5 mile area. The biggest effect on nursery operations will be for nurseries inside the 1.5 mile radius zone, which will have to have every shipment of plants inspected by a regulatory official and a certificate of quarantine compliance issued regardless of where it is being shipped. Nurseries in the eight quarantined counties should contact their local agricultural commissioners office for details and requirements specific to their location.

While the federal quarantine only addresses the interstate shipments of plants, it requires that the state establish and enforce an equivalent quarantine for the intrastate movement of plants and articles to maintain the quarantine to an area less than the whole state.

Prior to the federal quarantine, the state of Florida had quarantined all plants from the entire state of California and other states were considering their own quarantine measures. The federal action occupies the regulatory field and supersedes all state quarantines.