Moth quarantine zone set in Sonoma

Hundreds of residents in and near Sonoma found themselves Monday within a 15-square-mile quarantine area where the state plans to battle the invasive light brown apple moth.

The quarantine zone, which state officials made public Monday, includes roughly 2,500 acres of vineyards around the city of Sonoma, according to Sonoma County officials. It also takes in about a half-dozen nurseries or other plant-related businesses.

The boundaries extend from Leveroni Road on the south edge of Sonoma to Madrone Road about five miles to the north near Eldridge. The quarantine area includes Sonoma's city neighborhoods west of Fifth Street West, as well as ranch lands more than a mile west of Arnold Drive in El Verano.

Growers in the quarantine area will face what state officials call "extensive inspection" in the effort to eradicate the moth, a native of Australia that has generated controversy elsewhere over state plans to conduct aerial spraying. The spraying, undertaken last year in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, involves the release of a synthetic pheromone designed to keep the moths from mating.

However, officials said the next step for the Sonoma quarantine area likely will be to place on plants special twist ties laced with the pheromone, which attracts the male moths in search of females.

As a result of the state action, affected residents are prohibited from taking homegrown fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers outside of the quarantine area.

"We recognize it's a challenge and a sacrifice," said Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. But he said the apple moth can feed on 2,000 different types of plants, including "most, if not everything, people have in their yards."

He said that residents in the quarantine area will receive a written notification and an invitation to a public meeting to learn more about the eradication efforts.

State agricultural officials Monday announced the quarantine boundaries, which take in parts of western Sonoma, El Verano, Boyes Hot Springs and Agua Caliente. The action follows the finding of a second apple moth last month in the residential area between Verano Avenue on the south and Agua Caliente Road on the north.

The moth, a native of Australia, was discovered in California in February 2007 and since has been detected in most Bay Area counties.

A U.S. Agriculture Department study concluded that if the state becomes "generally infested," the moth could cause $160 million to $640 million annually in crop damage. The state and federal governments have undertaken a $75 million eradication plan.

Besides the state actions, a federal quarantine now exists that prevents out-of-state shipments of plants from Sonoma County unless the materials have been deemed free of the moths.

Stefan Parnay, the county chief deputy agricultural commissioner, said his office has contacted about 30 businesses immediately affected by the state or federal quarantines. The owners of those business will sign "compliance agreements" that allow for government inspections.

Similarly, the county will work with affected grape growers before harvest, he said.

County and federal officials have said the quarantines will remain in place until the infestation area is free of the moth for three life cycles, typically about seven weeks each. That means the area likely will remain under quarantine when the grape harvest begins.

Grower officials said the quarantines will require more preparation in order to meet the new rules. But they expressed hope that the vineyards will remain free of the pest.

"If you're infested it's going to be more complicated," said Nick Frey, president of the 1,800-member Sonoma County Winegrape Commission.

A detailed map of the quarantine boundaries can be seen at: www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/lbam/pdfs/maps/quaran

tine/LBAM_QUAR_SONO

MA_CO_2008.pdf.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.

com.