Controlling the Tussoc\ Moth 



437 



dies. On July 15 the Moscow Chamber 

 of Commerce called a meeting for a 

 discussion of the situation. Owners of 

 timberland, private citizens, and repre- 

 sentatives of lumber companies, the 

 Idaho State Forestry Department, 

 University of Idaho, the State Exten- 

 sion Service, the Forest Service, and 

 the Bureau of Entomology and Plant 

 Quarantine attended. They decided 

 that it was too late to attempt control 

 action in 1946 and that a survey should 

 be made of the situation by the Forest 

 Service and Bureau of Entomology and 

 Plant Quarantine. 



The two agencies gave a joint report 

 at the annual meeting of the North 

 Idaho Chamber of Commerce in Mos- 

 cow on November 21. The primary 

 facts disclosed were: (1) Within a 

 gross, area of about 500,000 acres, 350,- 

 000 acres with an estimated stand of 

 1,518,000 thousand board feet of the 

 Douglas-fir and white fir timber were 

 infested and an additional 1,182,000 

 thousand board feet were threatened; 

 (2) the economic values involved (in- 

 cluding, but not limited to, stumpage, 

 lumber, pay rolls, and taxes) were 

 more than 100 million dollars; (3) 

 aerial spraying with a DDT solution 

 was the only feasible means of control 

 on the rugged terrain; (4) the esti- 

 mated cost of control was $1.70 an 

 acre; (5) to hold down losses the oper- 

 ations would have to be accomplished 

 between May 20 and June 30, 1947 

 May 20 because it was about the date 

 of general hatching of the tussock moth 

 caterpillars from the egg masses, and 

 June 30 because after that date de- 

 foliation of trees would occur to a de- 

 gree that would perforce kill much of 

 the timber stand. 



The report contained many other 

 details, including a description of the 

 fir tussock moth; estimates of flying 

 altitudes above timber for different 

 types of planes ; need for aerial photo- 

 graphic maps ; estimated days of flying 

 weather and hours of flying weather 

 per day between May 20 and June 30 ; 

 and the need for supplementary air- 

 strips. 



The meeting heartily approved the 

 recommendations for action. This was 

 the first of a series of steps that pre- 

 sented an inspiring example of varied 

 interests that were quickly knit together 

 and acted on decisively, forcibly, and 

 in complete unity for the accomplish- 

 ment of an objective. 



The report was presented to Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture officials in Wash- 

 ington on December 6 and to other 

 groups in December and January. It 

 was presented to the Idaho State Coop- 

 erative Board of Forestry, which rec- 

 ommended that the State cooperate 

 with the private timberland owners and 

 the Federal Government in control of 

 the infestation. Idaho Senate Bill No. 

 118, enacted on February 18, cleared 

 the way for cooperative action by the 

 State and Federal Governments. The 

 Idaho State Legislature on March 4 

 appropriated $210,000 for cooperative 

 forest-insect and pest control. The di- 

 rectors of the Potlatch Timber Protec- 

 tive Association decided unanimously 

 that the Association should carry its 

 share of the costs. Congress appropri- 

 ated $395,000 for the work. 



The essential preparatory measures 

 were many and varied. The nature of 

 the task required administration by one 

 agency; the major timberland owners 

 agreed that the Department of Agri- 

 culture should be the one. Accordingly, 

 the Forest Service and the Bureau of 

 Entomology and Plant Quarantine 

 proceeded within their means and ex- 

 isting authorities. The Forest Service 

 delegated responsibility for the admin- 

 istration of the project to the regional 

 forester of the Northern Region at Mis- 

 soula, Mont. The Bureau of Entomol- 

 ogy and Plant Quarantine delegated 

 responsibility for the entomological 

 phases to their regional forest entomo- 

 logist at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. 



The regional forester designated a 

 project leader for the Forest Service. 

 All preparatory action was carried on 

 by the project leader and one assistant 

 and the leader for the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology and Plant Quarantine, with 

 the help of the regular divisions of the 



