State Issues Its Marching Orders for Fire Ant War

The state’s battle against advancing fire ants could begin as soon as the first week of April, according to a long-awaited plan released Friday that gives counties and cities some responsibility for curtailing the ant’s spread.

The plan calls for treating areas infested with fire ants with ground application of two types of pesticides. It also calls for public education about the stinging ant, which has established its first major West Coast colonies in Orange County and portions of Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

But the plan does not lay out how much the effort will cost or who will pay for it.

No plans for aerial pesticide spreading are included. The prospect of such a step, similar to controversial measures used to fight the Mediterranean fruit fly, raised concerns among residents and county leaders.

Unlike the infamous war against the Medfly, the fire ant plan calls for broad involvement of counties and cities that state officials say will allow local governments to “customize” control efforts.

“It’s my professional opinion that this is the only way to eradicate red imported fire ants--you need a long-term plan with an umbrella organization that provides coordination, and the support of local communities,” said Pat Minyard, branch chief for pest detection emergency projects at the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

One fire ant expert consulted by the state said Friday that he thinks the state is using the right approach, but he warned that the clock is ticking as breeding season approaches.

“If I have any concern, it’s that they need to get moving on it,” said David Williams of the U.S. Department of Agriculture fire ant task force.

The ant has spread much farther than once thought, showing up in 23 of Orange County’s 31 cities and in four unincorporated areas, a new state tally shows. More ants have been found in Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County and in eight Riverside County communities.

The fire ant, a South American native, has long been known as a pest in the Southeast and Texas. Its presence in Orange County was first reported last fall.

Officials fear the ant could dramatically change Southern California’s well-known outdoors lifestyle, forcing children to wear shoes in their own backyards and forcing golfers, gardeners and hikers to be on constant alert. The ant’s sting is painful and can be life-threatening for people allergic to it. The ant can also injure livestock and wildlife.

All of Southern California is considered “high risk” for fire ants because of the climate as well as a large and rapidly growing population consuming nursery stock, which can contain fire ants, the new state plan reports.

The 27 Southern California counties considered high risk for infestation: Imperial, San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino (lower elevations), Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Tehema, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba, Sacramento, Placer (Central Valley section only) and Solano.

Another 12 counties are at moderate risk, largely in and around the Bay Area, including Napa and Sonoma counties, the report states.

The specter of fire ants infesting the state’s two largest metropolitan areas and the fertile Central Valley has heightened state concern about stopping the ant in Orange County.

Interim treatment would begin this spring with $2.8 million in state funds to help counties begin treatment quickly, before warm weather triggers the ant’s breeding season.

The state would help local agricultural commissioners and others begin treatment and offer training for local agencies.

A more comprehensive five-year plan would follow, but the price tag has not yet been established, Minyard said. While an approach using ground application of pesticide was once estimated to cost as much as $100 million--far more than aerial spreading--officials said they believe the locally based approach could shave costs considerably.

In fact, no details were forthcoming Friday about how much of the cost would be borne by the state. Counties and city governments might have to pay a share of those costs in time.

“That remains to be seen,” said state agriculture spokesman Oscar Hidalgo.

No pesticide-toting workers will be going house to house, Hidalgo said. Instead, homeowners can ask their local cities for treatment or advice.

Mass mailings will soon arrive at homes in and around ant-infested areas, with information about how to deal with the pests.

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer said a public meeting would be held on or before April 5 to inform residents more about the plan.

“I think this approach has shown a firm commitment from the administration that they’re going to assist Orange County with dealing with this problem head-on,” he said.

The two pesticides slated for initial use are hydramethylnon, a slow-acting insecticide that prevents ants from turning food into energy, and pyriproxyfen, an insect growth inhibitor. Both would be used as ground bait to attract ants.

The Agriculture Department “does not expect that there will be significant environmental or health effects, as a result of application of baits” used against the fire ant, the state plan states.

The department, moreover, is not required to prepare environmental impact reports since the state itself will not be applying pesticides, the plan states. And California law allows the state Department of Pesticide Regulation to conduct an abbreviated review of new pesticides, not a full-scale environmental review.

Whether the new plan can actually rid the state of fire ants remains uncertain. A panel of scientists said earlier that efforts to eradicate the ant could be futile without aerial pesticide spreading.

“I think it’s going to be extremely difficult to do it from the ground,” said Walter Tschinkel, a panel member and professor of biological sciences at Florida State University. “You have to enter every area that possibly has fire ants, look for them, and you have to be able to treat them. With private property areas and things of that nature, I just wonder if it has a reasonable chance of success.”

And environmentalists, customarily leery of pesticides, are alarmed at the damage fire ants could wreak on California’s environment.

“I am gravely concerned over the impacts of fire ants on the native ecology,” said Dan Silver of the Endangered Habitats League, “and I think we need to take aggressive steps to control these while the outbreak is relatively limited, before such time that things are hopeless.”