The Ojai Post

Anything that hurts 1 form of life will hurt all forms of life.

Hmmmm... Let's see. Salt? Pour salt on me and I'm good. Pour salt on a slug and...

why are all of the local organic farmers for the spraying?

Yes, it's curious that B.T., Sprinkel and Alisdair are such proponents of the spraying. Sometimes environmentalists are more concerned about nature than humans, forgetting that humans are part of nature. Or maybe, though they are organic farmers and have experience using Btk, are already old school in their thinking about considering alternatives. I would like to see a united Ojai on this issue and see the "elders" of the organic/green movement here embrace a more wholistic view about the broad spectrum impact of state forced spraying.

I've not been following this topic regularly, so I may be saying something that has already been said.

I am not fond of toxic pesticides. However, they are used routinely throughout our county and our country, and perhaps there are bigger challenges to our health than this one. Monsanto comes to mind.

I grew up in a town/area infested by gypsy moths. Everyone wrapped circles of aluminum foil around their trees, put rings of vaseline or paint around their trees because we were told it would keep the moths out of the canopy. It didn't work. The only thing that worked was to burn them. People were constantly cutting nests (those big webby things) out of their trees and burning them. Kids ran around scraping the egg sacs of trees and buildings into coffee cans, and their parents burned them - they sounded like mustard seed popping in oil.

Lexington was a toursit-driven economy. We were quaint and charming and trendy. Gypsy moths covered the streets and the sidewalk. People drove like maniacs trying to crush them with their wheels, and kids had contests to see how many they could stomp on their way to school. We lost a huge number of our oldest, most majestic trees. It took YEARS to get the infestation under control.

Ojai is an orchard town. If the gypsy moths take over like they did in Lexington, our farmers, already strapped by the drought, the water prices, and the economy at large, will take huge losses. The community will suffer.

I'm not discounting the fears of pesticides - I'm suggesting there may be other issues at stake that will also affect our quality of life.

The previously removed comment was made by chris jones who after many long nights of editing neglected to inform people that I am using cej as my signature. Forgive me for the mishap.
CEJ

right on Tyler, right on.

Chris - sorry for deleting your previous two comments - mistaken identity. If you can just be Chris or Chris Jones or ChrisJones or CJones, or basically anything but CEJ, that'd be great! Thanks for your contributions - the videos have been really well received, and are important to the discussion.

Is there a discussion? I'm not really hearing one. In the face of facts and serious questions about everything from socioeconomic targeting of the spraying to accounts of destruction and deforestation by people who have lived through infestations, all we hear from the zero tolerance side is crickets.

Thanks Tyler for keeping this issue alive :-)

Nobody is in favor of this spray, it is a less toxic method then some, however. IMO this spray "story" and that taking place in 9 other California counties is a symptom of all war all the time for profit ... next week its arundo spray BTW.
peace in truth

the North American industrial gangland story remains the same ... roll over and be medi-chem victims, and braindead consumers, and dead soldiers.

this is not the Ojai Valley, it/we died decades ago. this is a toxic-metal iridescent-pus-filled appendix-bag hanging at the bottom of a nuclear petro-chemical headless monster, with aerospace medical beltway lawyer politician sewer express lane replacing river and waterways.

it will remain glowing and dead, the same, as long as we continue singing the sick song of war upon the world, war upon our sisters and brothers, war upon our holy Mother Earth ... the 'unknowing-ness' which separates us from our ten times greater economy of global family relations, and becoming our own sacred rainbow selves.

one, only in the song of ALL our beloved ancestors ....

[note: republished by tyler so it doesn't get lost due to the original date]

I appreciate your comments Heather. I realize that your experience with the Gypsy Moth problem was very real and probably also traumatic. The Gypsy Moth has certainly caused defoliation of hardwood forests on the east coast, but this is the west coast. We don't know for certain that the Gypsy Moth will proliferate in our climate and eco-system. While I think it is important to address the Gypsy Moth problem, it is equally important to not make assumptions about what might happen. Even though this spray called Dipel is labeled as an organic pesticide, it is according to the material data safety sheet, hazardous to humans and animals. Dipel is composed of Bacillus spores, protein crystals and inert ingredients. The inert ingredients are a trade secret that don't have to be disclosed to the public. Inert ingredients aren't necessarily non-toxic. And if these inert ingredients are so safe, then we as citizens, should demand that the chemical company that produces Dipel disclose the information about these ingredients. I still think using BurlapBands around trees, manual removal of Larvae, and hot water solutions would be a much safer alternative. Below is some of the information that I have about Dipel(Btk). I think some of the potential risks are worthy of discussion.

There are still no weight-of-the-evidence assessment details about Dipel's acute toxicity, whether it is a carcinogen, whether it causes developmental reproductive harm, whether it is an endocrine disruptor, and finally whether it causes acute water toxicity.

http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Product.jsp?REG_NR=00859000582&DIST_NR=008590

Dipel information Taken from Valent Biosciences website.

"Some commonly asked questions on the use of DiPel:
1. What is DiPel?
DiPel is the biological insecticide based on a naturally occurring compound Bacillus
thuringiensis, subsp. Kurstaki. DiPel contains a balanced blend of five bacterial protein toxins
and a spore, which enhance efficacy and assist in resistance management."

"2. How Does DiPel Work?
DiPel must be eaten to be effective. DiPel contains protein endotoxin crystals and living spores.
Protein endotoxin is a selective stomach poison. Spores contribute to toxicity by causing blood
poisoning and providing environmental persistence.
a) Larvae ingest DiPel’s crystal proteins from treated leaves.
b) Feeding stops within minutes after crystals are solubilized in the gut and gut cells are
damaged.
c) After toxin damage to gut, spores enter through gut wall and germinate rapidly in body cavity
causing blood poisoning.
d) Larvae stop feeding in as little as half an hour and die in 1-3 days."

Dipel information Taken from Valent Biosciences website.

http://www.valentbiosciences.com/docs/pdfs/learning_center/LC_DiPel.pdf

Symptoms of Poisoning with Microbial (Bt) Compounds

- Irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract.
- May cause infection or corneal ulcers in the eyes.
- If ingested, may cause bacterial gastroenteritis: abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea.

http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC33804

The following is an excerpt from a report by Carol Van Strum
Comments on “Gypsy Moth Management in the United States: a cooperative approach, Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement USDA NA-MR-01-08 June 2008

"The most blatant omission is the total failure to consider any alternatives other than the “current” spray program and proposed additional spray programs. Considering that more than one hundred years of intensive spray programs have failed utterly to eliminate gypsy moths in the US, the failure even to consider any alternative but spraying would be laughable if it weren’t so costly and so deadly. Indeed, based on the government’s record of failure, a program of prayer and smoke signals would be an equally effective –- and far safer and cheaper — alternative."

I hope this info. helps. Ojai is a Mecca of amazing, creative, and diverse people, and it would be a great tragedy if there was any undisclosed risk to the health of our community members.

our scum government had Hispanic worker victims, in State of California vehicles, spraying Oak Trees on Rice Road today, poisoning the residents and pedestrians, homes and yards, children and wildlife.

Does anyone know where exactly the moths/eggs were found? Also, I keep hearing about hot water being used to kill the caterpillars. Is there any info on the success of this method? Inquiring minds . . . .

this is a toxic-metal iridescent-pus-filled appendix-bag hanging at the bottom of a nuclear petro-chemical headless monster

MT, I kinda like Ojai, faults and all, and disagree with you. Ojai is beautiful-pink moment-orange blossom scented-bird singing-enchanted valley!

what happened to the video?

thanks, canibefrank. Vid is back up and running for your viewing pleasure.