Three counties added to quarantine list for gypsy moths

Talk about it

Three more counties are being added to a state quarantine list for the leaf-killing gypsy moth. Ashland, Clark, and Bayfield counties will be added to the state-and-federal quarantine list on April first.

It means that Christmas trees, logs, and nursery stock cannot be sent to places without the quarantine, until they’re inspected and certified as gypsy-moth-free. Most eastern and central Wisconsin counties are on the quarantine list. Gypsy moths feed on many types of trees-and-shrubs. State officials say trapping data and field surveys indicate that the gypsy moth has reproduced and taken hold in Ashland, Clark, and Bayfield counties.

State traps set last year showed that the moth had more of a presence in central and northern Wisconsin – and less of a presence in the south. Gypsy moths have been spreading from the eastern U.S. for a number of years – but Wisconsin and 10 other states worked together to slow that expansion last year. Officials said they were successful in controlling its spread toward the west.

Tags: western wisconsin, news, outdoors, wisconsin, agriculture