An Urgent Problem

The current beetle infestation epidemic is the largest ever recorded and is expanding exponentially. One tree infests ten, and ten infest one hundred. Almost every susceptible tree, forest-wide, will be killed before the epidemic is over. Nothing can be done for fatally infested trees. Do not wait until it is too late.

Effectiveness

We have shown success rates of over 95% and are constantly striving to improve our service.

Chemicals

We use the pesticide "Astro", which is permethrin-based. The "sticker" we use is "NuFilm-17", an organic material made from pine resin. It provides long lasting UV protection.

Ecological Risks (US Environmental Protection Agency)

• Permethrin is highly toxic to both freshwater and estuarine aquatic organisms. Most agricultural, public health, and down-the-drain scenarios modeled resulted in exceedances in the acute risk quotient (RQ) for freshwater and estuarine fish, invertebrates, and sediment organisms. The agricultural and public health scenarios also showed the potential for chronic risks to estuarine and/or freshwater organisms. Further, there is a potential concern for direct effects to a variety of aquatic organisms.
• The acute and chronic RQs for terrestrial avian species are below the Agency’s levels of concern. The acute RQs for terrestrial mammals were also below the Agency’s acute LOCs; however, some chronic RQs exceeded the Agency’s LOC. However, the Agency believes the chronic RQs for mammals are based on a conservative estimate of toxicity, and therefore, may represent an overestimation of risk.
• The potential for risk to terrestrial and aquatic plants from exposure to permethrin cannot be assessed because toxicity data are not available. However, any toxicity to plants would occur for reasons other than permethrin's insecticidal mode of action because permethrin works as a neural toxin, and unlike insects, plants do not have neural networks that could be affected.
• Permethrin toxicity data show that the compound is highly toxic to honeybees, as well as other beneficial insects.

Longevity of Pesticide

The optimal effectiveness of a spray treatment is 180 days. After this time the effectiveness will drop off significantly. The pesticide needs to be re-applied each year.

Equipment

We use sprayers with 300’ hose reels than can hit 80 feet up into trees at 600-800 psi.

Spraying Standards

We spray to the point where the trees diameter is less than 4 inches or a minimum of 40 feet, whichever is lower. We cover 100% of the circumference to the height required to protect the tree. The EPA requires that this chemical not be used within 25’ of active water.

Licensing

All of our sprayers have a certified pesticide applicator running them. We follow all EPA regulations governing the chemicals and provide our employees with all Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) needed to keep them safe.