Walla Walla River Integrated Pest Management Project

The focus of the Walla Walla River IPM (integrated pest management) Project was to reduce pesticide use by removing impediments to the implementation of mating disruption for the control of codling moth, a key pest in apples.  Use of mating disruption technology decreases the use of the organophosphate azinphos methyl by 50-75%, which greatly reduces the chance of toxic pesticide drift and spills that could harm fish by contaminating the Walla Walla River.

In the course of the project (Winter-Spring 2005), 29 acres of four abandoned commercial orchards, 10 backyard trees in two sites, and four wild apple trees on the hillsides and in pastures were removed. Owners of two small abandoned orchards refused to allow their trees to be removed but arranged with a commercial grower to spray their small orchards for them.  Three homeowners will receive boxes of apples annually from the local growers in exchange for allowing the project to remove their small orchards or backyard apple trees.  Several additional homeowners with backyard trees made arrangements with a local commercial orchardist to treat their yard apple trees.

Over the course of the summer (2005), the benefits of the removal of the abandoned or neglected and untreated trees should be apparent and show up in reduced trap counts compared with previous years.  Blue Mountain Horticulture Society oversees the trap monitoring program.  Supplemental pesticide applications will be applied as needed based upon trap counts, so with reduced trap counts less supplemental pesticide will be required.  The project was sponsored and supported by the Blue Mountain Horticulture Society and received a grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Small Grants Program (#26-04-021).

Related news stories:

"High-tech study aims to reduce codling moth's sting" (WW Union-Bulletin, June 23, 2004)

"No coddling allowed: Program helps stop tree pests" (WW Union-Bulletin, August 6, 2004)
 

Who to contact for more information about the trap monitoring:
- Jared Brown, Coordinator, Blue Mountain Horticulture Society
   "Codling Moth Management Program (CAMP) (509) 520-0173
- Lyla Lampson, Entomologist, Lampson Research & Consulting (541) 938-4711

Information on how and when to spray for codling moths and other pests is available through the Oregon State University Extension Office in Milton-Freewater (541) 938-5597.