TRI-CITIES, Wash. – The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has begun their search for invasive pests across the state this summer.
While the Tri-Cities area already deals with pests like the Japanese Beetle and Apple Maggots, the WSDA is looking for more than 130 other types of invasive pests that could affect everyone, not just farmers.
Karla Salp, communications coordinator with the WSDA, says the goal of the survey is to be ready for the future.
“We are just trying to do everything we can to have an early and rapid response,” said Salp.
While Salp says that the WSDA knows about invasive species like Spongy Moths, Japanese Beetles and Apple Maggots, they are also looking for other species that could potentially be hiding or new.
“A lot of them have never been found here. And so we’re hoping they never will be. But we won’t know unless we look,” said Salp.
One of those pests, the Spotted Lanternfly, was recently spotted in Oregon. The bug threatens a variety of plants, like grapes and hops, that are grown in the Tri-Cities. Salp says one of their greatest resources for preventing the spread of invasive pests is the public.
“If you see something that you don’t recognize until you take a photo, report it either to the Washington state Invasive Species Council or to us,” said Salp.
Salp also warned the public about imposters pretending to be WSDA staff. While she has ever only heard about it happening once, she assures that real staff will never ask to enter homes and can be identified by their high-visibility vests displaying “WSDA” and government-issued IDs.
