VIRGINIA DIVISION OF FORESTRY Box 3758 Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 ADMINISTRATION March 25, 1981 Reprots TO: E. E. Rodger FROM: C. L. Morris SUBJECT: Quarterly Report, I & D Branch, January through March 1981 Gypsy Moth The I & D Branch continues to work closely with the VDACS in support of their "elimination" effort in Floyd County. The Branch will assist in the male moth trapping program in Virginia during the summer of 1981 by manning a trap line in Albemarle and Washington Counties; placing traps on a 3KM grid. Three draft "informational sheets" on various aspects of the gypsy moth problem have been developed and will be submitted to the Virginia Gypsy Moth Advisory Committee for approval. These sheets will deal with individual aspects (control measures, biology and life history, facts and fiction, etc.) for use by all state and federal agencies during future gypsy moth outbreaks, and conceivably be modified to suit the needs of other states in a regional approach to the impending invasion. Insect Control at the VDF Seed Orchards Invitation for bids for aerial application of insecticide to control coneworms and seedbugs have been developed. Insecticide for that operation has been ordered. Special attention is being paid to reducing insect damage to the loblolly pine cone crop at New Kent Forestry Center since it is the largest seed orchard crop we have noted in several years. To assist seed orchard personnel in understanding the biology and control of seed orchard pests, an annual training session was organized; seed orchard personnel,will cooperate with the -2- USFS in a southwide survey for one of the coneworms, Dioryctria disclusa, using ( perhomone traps and pollen collections. Mycorrhizae Studies During the quarter, pine seedlings infected with specific mycorrhizae from inoculated seedbeds were outplanted in 6 problem areas on I-64, on Kyanite Mining land and in open fields at Piedmont Community College and Blue Ridge Hospital, Charlottesville. A talk on mycorrhizal relationships was made at UVA. Nursery activities included an evaluation of the 2-0 white pine crop at Augusta, reported as suffering possible problems from a root fungus, Fusarium, and a check of the cause of seedling red pine mortality in flooded areas (caused by Phytopthora) and an evaluation of blight infection on the 1-0 American chestnut seedlings raised at Augusta. Southern Pine Beetle Demo Project The Branch is overseeing a $100,400 cooperative project with the USFS on demonstrating the value of thinning to reduce SPB damage. During the quarter we leased two logging winches for demonstration and evaluation, placing them in the southern piedmont thinning pulpwood-sized loblolly pine plantations. An invitation to bid was sent to selected consulting foresters in Virginia in an effort to encourage thinning activities in a two county area in the southern piedmont. Contacts were also consummated with VPI to assist us in identifying high hazard stands (through photogrammetry) and to determine landowner attitudes regarding thinning in Lunenburg County. Environmental Education Represented VDF at Social Studies Teacher Conference; set up interagency EE course for Richmond City school teachers. Completed first set of 5 forestry activities. Set up field trip programs for Albemarle County schools' science week. Attended COE meeting - Short Pump. Participated in several programs for Ivy Creek Foundation. -3- Other Activities 1. Continued cooperation with Arnold Drooz, USFS, in assessing the incidence of egg parasites on the fall cankerworm. 2. Inventoried various chemical pesticides on storage and reported to EPA. 3. Gave two lectures on VDF activities to students of forest entomology at VPI &SU; gave an illustrated talk on GM to students at the Piedmont Community College. 4. Assisted several students in biology/environmental sciences in special research projects. 5. Attended one day of a two-day conference on air pollution impact on plants at VPI & SU. 6. Attended one day of multiple fire training course (all personnel). 7. One Forest Pest Survey Report was issued. 8. Artman attended the Southwide Forest Disease Workshop. 9. Examined WESTVACO's Virginia pine seed orchard for disease problems. 10. Made arrangements for minor renovating of greenhouse for use by WESTVACO for a seedling study this summer. 11. Evaluated the ASCS 35mm aerial slides for their usefulness. 12. Collected overwintering stages of Virginia pine sawfly, Hetrick's pine sawfly and the pine looper for survival and parasite study. 13. Evaluated possibility of Ips bark beetle attack in thinned research plantation in Buckingham County for WESTVACO. 14. Attended one Toxic Substances Advisory Committee meeting (plus sub-committee meeting on Exemptions) in Richmond.· NOTE: Artman currently spends 75% of his time on coordinating and administering the State Lands Management Program. VIRGINIA DIVISION OF FORESTRY Box 3758 Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 FORESTRY RELATIONS July 7, 1981 Quarterly Report TO: E. E. Rodger FROM: C. L. Morris SUBJECT: Quarterly Report - I & D Branch - April-June, 1981 Seed Orchards Tigner continued to work closely with VDF seed orchard management personnel in arranging for two aerial applications of Guthion for control of cone moths and seedbugs. Evaluation of the effectiveness of these sprays continues, along with annual assessment of insect damage to cones and seed in treated and untreated stands on both the Buckingham and New Kent loblolly pine and white pine seed orchards. A survey of egg parasites of the seedbug was instituted; cooperated with USFS on survey for coneworm D. disclusa in the South. Gypsy Moth \v-.AftJ:L Four...,.b.sa~-infestations of the gypsy moth were located in northern Virginia (3 in Fairfax, 1 in Loudoun County) during the spring of 1981. These first-time discoveries in Virginia indicate the general invasion of this forest pest from the generally infested area to the north. In addition, a new isolated infestation in Lunenburg County was first confirmed by VDF personnel. An expanding program of cooperative survey and parasite collection and release is anticipated by the VDF and the VDACS as GM populations increase. Pine Bark Beetles - remain at low populations with only occasional spot infestations (of SPB) reported in Greenville County. Air surveys of the State Forests in May revealed minimal populations; additional surveys are scheduled in mid-July. The USDA-VDF cooperative southern pine beetle program to demonstrate the value of thinning to reduce SPB damage is well underway. Two consulting foresters have been employed to contact landowners in Lunenburg and Nottoway Counties to encourage thinning. Stands selected for demonstration thinning are based on assessment of aerial photos by VPI's remote sensing lab. In addition, three pieces of equipment (2 FARMI winches, 1 MOR-BELL logger) have been leased to determine their applicability to thinning of young pine stands. -2- Hardwood Defoliators - were widespread this spring throughout Virginia. Thousands of acres of oaks and associated hardwoods were stripped of their leaves in the mountains, piedmont and coastal plain. The forest tent caterpillar was widespread in Richmond, Northumberland, Stafford, Chesapeake and Prince William Counties. The forest tent plus the fall cankerowrm caused extensive defoliation on the eastern shore and in the Portsmouth area. Linden looper, forest tent and cankerworms noticeable in scattered areas of the piedmont and the same complex plus Phigalia caused almost complete stripping of hardwoods on the northern½ of the Massanutten Mt. Environmental Education Contributed to conservation short course at Longwood. Developed and coordinated intra-agency training course for Richmond city school teachers. Represented VDF at Council on Environment meeting. Continued to serve as education committee chairman and board member, Ivy Creek Foundation, including several field trips to ICNA. Pathology Studies ~ '7,, 1. Sampled dying Scotch pine in Harrisonburg and in 2-6 other locations for pinewood nemefude. 2. Continued mycorrhizal evaluation at New Kent nursery and in the field outplantings; inoculated pine tubelings with mycorrhizae for ChesapeakeG->p, 3. Annual check on E. Shore for sweetfern blister rust mortality. 4. Evaluated data on white pine blister rust permanent plots. Other Activities II 1. Tigner participated in VDF "social assessment training program with Chuck Stanley et. al. 2. Tigner helped organize workshop for upcoming Southern Forest Insect Work Conference (Florida in August 1981). 3. Addressed Christmas tree growers on I & D problem. 4. Gave one I & D talk to D-4 personnel. 5. Continued cooperative study with USFS on fall cankerworm egg parasites at Bull Run. 6. Participated in I & D training session for county agents. FOREST P E S T S U R V E Y R E P O R T Virginia Division of Forestry Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 !larch 1981 Current Status of Forest Pests in Virginia Ips bark beetles up, pine looper do,m in the outbreak areas of two surners ago, expected to be up in populations in the Tappahannock area. The Virginia pine sawfly do,-m in numbers over last year (defoliation levels expecterl to be negligible in 1981), uhile the introduced pine sawfly (well established in the northern valley and in SH corner of Virginia) is at an early season low ebb due to high bird predation and a striking increase in parasite attack which averaged 40% in cocoons collected late fall 1981). Looper pupae and pine sawfly ergs weathered the low winter temperatures satisfactorily