Forest Pest Detection report can help identify problems

Landowners and forest professionals can be part of the effort to monitor California forests for pests by reporting any problems you may find using the Forest Pest Detection report form. Current pests of note include pitch canker, sudden oak death, and bark beetle populations, which are increasing substantially in the south state and possibly the southern Sierra as well.

The detection report serves two purposes. The first is the reporting of pest damage. The forms help to identify and document the type and extent of pest damage occurring throughout the year. Completed forms are forwarded to Forest Pest Management (FPM) offices who compile and summarize reported damage for each pest. The result of these reports and other sources of information is the annual Forest Pest Conditions report. Copies of the report are available from the CDF Sacramento office; electronic versions of the annual report are posted on the Forest Service website at http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/fpm/fhp_doc.htm.

The second purpose of the report is to request the identification of a damaging agent. State or local government personnel, and private individuals can send pest and plant injury samples to the nearest CDF Forest Pest Management office. Instructions for handling and shipping samples are on the back of the form. Contact the FPM office before submitting samples from within the established Zones of Infestation for Sudden Oak Death and Pitch Canker; phone 916-653-9476 for more information. Information on the pitch canker zone can be found at http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/pitch_canker/prevention.html. Information on the Sudden Oak Death zone is located on the SOD website at http://nature.berkeley.edu/comtf/.

The Forest Pest Detection report is part of a cooperative effort to survey and report forest pest damage on an annual basis. The California Forest Pest Council (CFPC) sponsors this effort and annually produces the ³Forest Pest Conditions² report. The form is distributed to CFPC members and is generally available from the Forest Service and CDF addresses on the back of the form. Form users would include forestland managers, professional foresters, pest management specialists, biologists, and others interested in the protection of forests from damage caused by biotic and abiotic agents.

The use of the Forest Pest Detection report has become even more important since the discovery of Sudden Oak Death. The potential for the establishment of new exotic pests in California forests makes the report a useful early detection tool for new pest damage.