FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 12, 2007 Contact: Gail Raabe Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer (650) 363-4700 LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH QUARANTINE BOUNDARIES ESTABLISHED IN SAN MATEO COUNTY REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) added the four areas of San Mateo County to the Light Brown Apple Moth State Interior Quarantine Regulation on June 6. The four areas under quarantine range from 11 to 23 square miles in size and include portions of the following cities: Colma, South San Francisco, Brisbane and Daly City San Carlos, Belmont, San Mateo and Hillsborough Woodside, Portola Valley, Menlo Park and Redwood City Half Moon Bay Maps showing the exact quarantine boundaries are available on the CDFA Web site at http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/htm/419.htm. San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner Gail Raabe is asking residents within the quarantine areas to help prevent the spread of this serious agricultural pest by not moving plants, flowers, fruits or vegetables from their property. Green waste, such as plant clippings and leaves, should be placed in recycling containers or composted on site. After the moth showed up in the East Bay in March, 700 insect traps were deployed throughout San Mateo County. The first light brown apple moth was found in a Belmont trap on April 13. When ten more moths were discovered in the following weeks, San Mateo County Agriculture Department personnel inspected wholesale and retail nurseries, community gardens and farms in the vicinity of the finds to make sure all nursery stock and produce were free of the pest and certified for movement. Nurseries, community gardens and farms will continue to be inspected on a periodic basis with assistance from CDFA and United States Department of Agriculture personnel. Certified producers in the quarantine areas who sell produce or flowers at the County's fourteen Farmers' Markets have also been placed under an ongoing inspection program. With the inspection program in place, residents can purchase produce or nursery stock at Farmers' Markets without restriction. San Mateo County is one of nine Bay Area counties infested with the light brown apple moth. A technical working group of scientists visited the Bay Area last month to evaluate the infestation. They have recommended a coordinated and expedited response to eradicate the infestation from California. Eradication efforts are currently focused on perimeter infestations in Napa and Contra Costa Counties to reduce the risk of the pest spreading outward. The light brown apple moth is native to Australia and infests over 250 plant species including many agricultural crops and plants commonly found in urban landscapes, parks and the natural environment. Plants are damaged by the caterpillars feeding on leaves, new shoots and fruit. For more information on the light brown apple moth or quarantine restrictions, contact the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture at (650) 363-4700 or visit visit http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/agwm and click on Environmental Protection and Agricultural Programs. ###