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Summarized by Leesa Johnson
Tooele Still Trying to Get Rid of Mormon Crickets
Salt Lake Tribune 5Apr00 D6
By Brandon Loomis: Salt Lake Tribune
and
Grasshopper plague expected this year
Deseret News 5Apr00 D6
By Linda Thomson: Deseret News business writer
Governments joining forces to fight the critters
Every Summer Utah gets plagued with grasshoppers. For the third straight
year in a row crickets and grasshoppers are getting ready to invade
Tooele county. This time, the humans plan on being ready to fight.
Due to inadequate funding state and federal agents have been unable to
spray for the last two years. This has led to a large insect
infestation. Since federal agents can only spray public land and state
agents are only able to spray cropland, they are encouraging local
citizens to spray their own properties in order to get read of these
menaces. This is not something new to residents of Tooele. Dori
Wright, who lives north of Tooele says she spent $300. and sprayed every
third day. It didn't help. "Two hours after I'd spray they'd be back
in," she said. This year she is raising 50 hungry pheasants.
The federal government has $100,000 it can use for
Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands, as well as
$55,000 to complete surveys of the grasshopper and Mormon cricket
problems.
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has $135,000 to
help agricultural producers through a 50-50 cost split
The city of Tooele will spend $15,000 to spray the outskirts of the
city, and Tooele County will match any funds raised by residents up
to $15,000.
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