Second apple moth quarantine ordered

A second quarantine area is being imposed in Sonoma County following the discovery of another light brown apple moth in southern Sonoma and Napa counties, the second found in the past two weeks.

State agriculture officials said Thursday they are devising quarantine boundaries that will extend at least 1.5 miles from the locations where the two finds were made earlier this month.

Growers will face restrictions on moving their fruit outside the boundaries, the same rules now in place for the county's first quarantine area, which was established this spring near Sonoma.

The state last week confirmed that a moth had been found Aug. 10 in southeastern Sonoma County near Ramal Road off Highway 12.

On Thursday, officials announced that another moth had been detected a few days before Aug. 10 on Duhig Road in Napa County, about 1½ miles east of the Ramal Road discovery.

"We're still working to identify the boundaries" of the new quarantine area, said spokesman Steve Lyle of the state Department of Food and Agriculture. He added that no date had yet been set for the release of a map showing the affected lands.

Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Lisa Correia said her staff members are contacting growers likely to be in the new quarantine area. Officials for both counties said the aim is to allow the harvest to continue with as little disruption as possible.

"The biggest thing about a quarantine at this time of year is the impact on the wine grape industry," said Dave Whitmer, the Napa County agricultural commissioner.

While state officials did not made public the confirmation of the Napa moth until Thursday, Lyle said the state had earlier notified county agriculture officials. The announcement was aimed at "clarifying" last week's incorrect comment that no new quarantine was being established in Sonoma County, he said.

The presence of the apple moth, a native of Australia, was first confirmed in California in early 2007. The insect has since been found in most Bay Area counties and south to Monterey.

The state says the moth could do considerable damage to numerous crops and the environment. Critics disagree and earlier this year they opposed the state's plans to conduct aerial spraying over the Bay Area this summer. Officials since have dropped the spraying plan and announced that they plan to raise and eventually release millions of sterile moths in the infested areas.

Two moths were found in the Sonoma Valley in February and April, resulting in a 15-square-mile quarantine area that extends from southwestern Sonoma north to Eldridge.

The state this summer proposed placing chemically infused twist ties in two Sonoma areas to disrupt the moth's mating cycle. But neighborhood opposition and delays for environmental reviews prompted the state to put that plan on hold in the hope that by October the Sonoma Valley quarantine could be lifted without further eradication efforts.

Nick Frey, president of the 1,800-member Sonoma County Wine Grape Commission, said some vineyards in the quarantine area will crush some or all of their grapes on the premises, meaning they won't fall under the transport restrictions.

Frey said new traps have been set out around the proposed quarantine area and growers are waiting to see whether any more moths are caught.

"If they don't find a bunch more moths," Frey said, "that would be good news."

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285

or robert.digitale@

pressdemocrat.com.