A2 Wednesday, January 1, 2020
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
hoodrivernews.com
GREATER GORGE
Wasp targets harmful fruit fly
NATIONAL SCENIC AREA
By MARK GIBSON
The Dalles Chronicle
Submitted photo
DRONES are allowed to fly only via special permit, under new
NSA rules.
Drone restrictions
in place over
Scenic Area
recreation sites
Drones are now forbidden
from liftoffs and landings in Co-
lumbia Gorge National Scenic
Area parks, according to a new
order placed on Nov. 4 directed
by the National Forest Service.
The updated order, signed by
Lynn Burditt, forest supervisor for
the Columbia River Gorge Scenic
Area, prohibits the “landing of
aircraft, or dropping or picking
up any material, supplies, or
person by means of an aircraft” in
developed recreation sites within
Hood River, Klickitat, Skamania,
and Multnomah counties.
Listed below are trails that
come under the directive:
■ Multnomah Falls
■ Wahkeena Falls
■ Horsetail Falls
■ Eagle Creek Recreation
Area
■ Cape Horn Area
■ Coyote Wall, Catherine
Creek Day Use Area
“The takeoff and landing of
drones and other aircraft have
been prohibited on National For-
est Service lands at Multnomah
Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Horsetail
Falls and Eagle Creek Recreation
Area since last year. The new
Forest Order 06-22-01-20-04,
which was executed on Nov. 4,
expanded the rules to the new
trail areas,” a press release noted.
The order will be temporarily
active until Nov. 4, 2021. The
order does not differentiate be-
tween commercial and hobbyist
drone operators, public affairs
officer Rachel Pawlitz said.
“However, if there are valid
reasons for requesting a permit,
we do in some cases issue special
use permits that will allow drone
use for a specified set of dates for
specific purposes,” Pawlitz said.
“These have to be arranged
more than 10 business days
in advance. Folks can call the
CRGNSA office at 541-308-1700
to inquire about the process and
learn more about whether they
would meet the criteria for a per-
mit and how much it would cost,”
noted Pawlitz.
The order makes a special
exemption for any “federal, state
or local official or member of an
organized rescue or firefighting
force in the performance of an
official duty.”
Pawlitz cited public safety
and the need to minimize dis-
turbances to wildlife in areas
where the agency had previ-
ously found there was a need
to limit disturbances through
NEPA decisions as reasons for
the prohibition of drones in the
wilderness areas.
Furthermore, the press re-
lease noted that “parts of the
following open trails traverse
the wilderness: Herman Creek
Trail, Larch Mountain Trail,
Mount Defiance Trail, Nick
Eaton Trail, Pacific Crest Trail,
Starvation Ridge Trail and Wah-
clella Falls Trail.”
Pawlitz said increased drone
use was a factor that prompted
the response by the agency.
As the popularity of drones
grows and ownership of the un-
manned flight systems become
more commonplace, Pawlitz
noted, the agency has received
complaints and requests by the
public to address the nuisance
that drone use can pose to other
visitors.
“At most of these sites, there’s
a high number of people rec-
reating and under (Federal
Aviation Administration) reg-
ulations, flying over crowds is
already prohibited; the benefit
of having a ban in place is that
we’re able to ensure consis-
tent rules and avoid confusion
about what exactly constitutes
‘a crowd,’” Pawlitz wrote in an
email.
As household drone usage
increases across the country,
federal agencies have been
playing catchup by enforcing
tighter restrictions on drone
pilots. A federal law that went
into effect last year reinstated
the registration requirement
for drone owners, including
hobbyists, mandating them
to register serial numbers and
identifying information with the
Federal Aviation Administration
and spend $5 for the registry.
Pawlitz noted that compli-
ance remains steady, although
the agency typically sees offenses
occurring at Multnomah Falls
due to the high volume of visitors
to the park. While the agency
could issue a citation in these
instances where an offense is re-
ported, Pawlitz said, the agency
typically begins the interaction
by simply requesting the drone
pilot to stop flying in the prohib-
ited areas.
A parasitic wasp has shown
tremendous potential attack-
ing and controlling spot-
ted-wing drosophila — an
invasive, destructive fruit fly
that costs Oregon fruit and
berry growers close to a bil-
lion dollars a year, according
to Oregon State University
researchers.
Biological control is the
use of beneficial insects to
manage other insects, which
means using less pesticides.
“Spotted-wing drosophila
is very difficult to control,”
said Vaughn Walton, profes-
sor and Extension entomol-
ogist in OSU’s College of Ag-
ricultural Sciences. “It’s got a
very, very high reproduction
rate, many generations a year.
Because of that, when using
pesticides, they have to be
applied constantly.”
If successful, the wasp
could have a big impact on
orchardists in the Gorge, said
OSU Extension horticulturist
Ashley Thompson, who works
with growers in Wasco and
Hood River counties. “It’s a
major problem for growers
here,” she said of the spot-
ted-wing fruit fly.
Cherries become suscep-
tible to the fly when the fruit
begins to gain color in the
spring.
Thompson monitors fly
numbers throughout the year,
with well over a dozen traps
in orchards from Dufur to
Mosier.
Trap results are reported to
growers. “That gives them an
idea of what is out there, and
when they need to spray,” she
said. “Growers use a variety
of pesticides to treat for the
spotted wing,” and may spray
four or five times a year when
numbers are high.
She said if found to be a
successful control, the wasp
will be an important part of
controlling the invasive fly.
“This will be an important
tool, especially for organic
growers,” she said. Currently
only one organic pesticide,
based on soil microbes, is
available for use.
The parasitic wasp could
also decrease the frequency of
spray use, Thompson said.
Pesticide application can
cost $150 per acre, and re-
duced application represents
significant cost savings, she
said.
Researchers noted that blue-
berry growers are most impact-
Europe and the eastern U.S.,
the pest is already a serious
problem in wine grapes.
Researchers have high
hopes for the wasp. “Based
on the survival and host-kill-
ing capacity of the wasp, we
have concluded that it has tre-
mendous biocontrol potential
Submitted photo
WASP lays eggs on spotted-wing drosophila larvae, an invasive
and destructive fruit fly in local orchards. The wasp is being tested
as a biological control for the destructive fruit fly, which was intro-
duced to Oregon in 2009 and impacts local cherry growers.
ed by the fly, and may have to
spray weekly when numbers
are high.
“Using that much pesticide
is not economically or environ-
mentally sustainable,” Walton
said. On average, spotted-wing
drosophila, also known by
the acronym SWD, destroys
10 percent of fruit value. The
fly is especially destructive
for blueberry growers, and
management in the blueber-
ry industry alone costs $100
million a year. Other crops
affected include strawberries,
raspberries, blackberries, cher-
ries and, if conditions are right,
grapes — a worrying possibility
for Oregon’s wine industry. In
against SWD,” Walton said.
The OSU researchers pub-
lished their findings in the
journal PLOS ONE.
Usually a parasitic insect
burrows into its host, which
can then produce antibodies
to fight it off. But P. vindemniae
lays its eggs on the outside of
the larvae skin, avoiding the
antibodies. That’s what makes
it so effective, Walton said.
A native of Southeast Asia,
spotted-wing drosophila ar-
rived in Oregon in 2009 and
has now spread throughout
the world. The P. vindemmiae
wasp is one of only two para-
sitoid species that have been
naturally found to successfully
CERT training comes to The Dalles
All of Oregon is focused
on preparing for the impacts
of the Cascadia Subduction
Zone earthquake and tsuna-
mi, according to a press re-
lease. Those efforts lead to a
culture of preparedness and
more resilient communities.
Community preparedness
includes citizens trained to
respond following a disaster.
The Community Emergen-
cy Response Team (CERT)
trains citizens to be first
responders when the event
is larger than the profession-
al responders can handle
and as volunteers assisting
professional responders in
other emergencies.
“If serving your community
in its time of need is some-
thing that interests you, or if
you just want to learn how to
prepare and respond for your
family, friends and neighbors,
then the CERT training is for
you,” said a press release.
“CERT is an in-depth training
and to be certified you must
attend all sessions. At the
completion of all sessions
and the final hands-on ex-
ercise you will also receive a
CERT backpack with essential
response items. There is no
financial cost for this train-
ing, just commitment of your
time.”
Three different class series
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choose the one that works for
your schedule:
■ Two weekends: Friday,
Jan. 10 from 5:30–9 p.m., Sat-
urday, Jan. 11 from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m., Friday, Jan. 17 from
5:30–9 p.m., and Saturday,
Jan. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
■ Six week series on Thurs-
day evenings beginning Jan.
16 and ending Feb. 20
■ Weekday, week-long se-
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go to twalker@hoodrivernew.
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Happenings (individual
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Items may be edited for
brevity.
Your
Mortgage
Lender
Call Bernie today
541-490-0167
Bernie Dittenhofer
Senior Loan Officer-Branch Manager
509 Cascade Ave, Suite F, Hood River
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9 through Friday, March 13
from 1–5 p.m.
All sessions will be held at
Mid-Columbia Fire and Res-
cue, 1400 W. Eighth St., The
Dalles.
To register contact the
Mid-Columbia CERT Coor-
dinator Lynette Black at 503-
806-7132 or lynette.black@
oregonstate.edu.
To learn more about CERT
visit www.ready.gov/cer.
SUDOKU
This week’s Sudoku is presented by:
BRIEN D . GIBSON
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
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Wedding, anniversary and
attack and kill spotted-wing
drosophila in the field, accord-
ing to Walton.
Adult drosophila flies re-
semble the small fruit or vine-
gar flies that buzz around the
kitchen or rotting fallen fruit
outdoors. Infested fruit shows
small scars or speckles made
when the adult female lays its
eggs. The eggs soon hatch and
the maggots begin feeding
inside the fruit, causing dam-
age that results in severe crop
losses.
The chances of deterring
spotted-wing drosophila im-
prove with cultural practices
like good sanitation, correct
pruning, drip irrigation and
weed cloth.
Drip irrigation lowers the
longevity and reproductive
ability of spotted-wing droso-
philia.
Weed cloth provides a bar-
rier to keep the flies that drop
from the fruit from burrowing
into the ground and laying
eggs.
“The wasp helps, but you
must do the other things as
well,” Walton said. “None can
stand on its own. If you’re
doing all of the cultural prac-
tices, you’re going to have a
much lower problem. I had a
call from a grower who was
doing everything right and he
wanted to know if he could
spray less pesticides. Even
removing one application is a
significant cost savings. That’s
a lot of savings if you can do
all of these things together.”
The parasitic wasp has
gone through rigorous testing
and Walton is awaiting a per-
mit to raise and release the
wasp in large numbers.
In the Columbia River
Gorge, the spotted-wing fruit
fly peaks in October, and num-
bers begin dropping in Decem-
ber, Thompson said. “We are
still catching some,” she said
Dec. 11. In winter, the flies feed
on fruit left on the ground.
The flies are always present,
but their numbers vary year to
year, she added. “Some years
we spray less frequently than
others.”
(Kym Pokorny of Oregon
State University contributed to
this report.)
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BRIEN D . GIBSON
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
T: (541) 226-3503
F: (503) 331-3904
E: briencpa@gorge.net
L: 1814 BELMONT AVE.
HOOD RIVER, OR 97031