Carbon County officials are urging property owners who have at least 23 acres of land and have concerns about gypsy moths to call the gypsy moth program coordinator.

Last week, during the county commissioners' meeting, the board voted to submit a letter of intent stating that Carbon County will again participate in the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, Division of Forest Pest Management's gypsy moth suppression program.Carbon was the only county in the state of Pennsylvania to participate in the program this year, Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said.This is the second year over the last few years that Carbon County has participated in the program.Last year, Mauch Chunk Lake Park crews identified an "outbreak population" of gypsy moths at the lake in late spring, noticing defoliation on the south side of the lake along the north face of the mountain, extending from the power lines to roughly around the dam area."We just completed the 2015 spraying program," Commissioner William O'Gurek said, noting that there have been some calls by residents who said they were unaware of the program."We thought we were doing the best we could to disseminate information," O'Gurek added. The county sent out press releases to media outlets and letters to residents who qualified for spraying.He urged residents who have questions to contact David Horvath, gypsy moth coordinator, at Mauch Chunk Lake Park, to get the information they need, or to request being put on the spraying list for 2016.Nothstein said that residents wishing to participate in next year's spraying have to apply by Aug. 30, and then must meet the state's required criteria to be included.Criteria includes having a total of 23 acres of forested residential property that must contain trees 25 feet or more in height and be comprised of at least 20 percent or more of highly favored species, including apple, aspen, basswood, beech, birches, box elder, hawthorn, larch, oaks, willows and witch hazel trees; and also have at least 250 healthy gypsy moth egg masses per acre, which is determined by Horvath using a specific equation.Residential properties with only scattered ornamental trees and shrubs or any property with trees that are readily accessible to ground spray equipment do not qualify for this program. Areas that have very small egg masses, regardless of the number, often do not qualify for the program because the gypsy moth population will most likely succumb to natural mortality agents shortly after they emerge in the spring.Egg masses should not be removed until field evaluations have been completed. Neighboring residential properties where all the landowners desire treatment will be combined into a single spray block whenever possible.Nothstein said that the cost for the spraying varies per year and is the responsibility of the property owner.This year, a total of 774 acres were sprayed in the county at a cost of $26 per acre for a total of $20,124. Of that total, 610 acres was Mauch Chunk Lake Park property and cost the county $15,860. The remaining 164 acres was private residents who qualified to be part of the spraying, and they shared the $4,264 balance.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said residents who do not qualify because they live in town, but are concerned about gypsy moths, can purchase Sevin, a concentrated spraying insecticide available at many home improvement stores, to spray on their trees and bushes.For more information on the gypsy moth program, to see if you are eligible or to apply for spraying next year, call Horvath at the Mauch Chunk Lake Park office at 570-325-3669, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.