| As wetlands expand, so do
mosquitoes
(Note: It is mentioned here that 'sometimes' landowners " ... don't know that creating wetlands habitat can also create a mosquito issue ... " although I cannot imagine anyone not knowing that brackish water is an open invitation to disease and disease-carrying insects and animals. Anywhere that decomposition is paired with water, disease is the inevitable result. Also, the mention by a Nature Conservancy employee that TNC 'sometimes' turns over land to the gov't., is ludicrous, and very deceptive. The last sentence of the article is very true, and is proven in many states, Ohio included.)
February 2, 2003
By Michelle MacEachern Staff Writer, The Chico Enterprise-Record 400 East Park Avenue, P.O. Box 9 Chico, CA 95927 530-896-7793 To submit a Letter to the Editor: dlittle@chicoer.com
The number of bloodsucking, disease-spreading, itchy-welt-causing mosquitoes is going up because of wetlands creation, according to those who battle the bugs, and people involved are getting a sometimes-unexpected bill. "We've seen a huge increase over the last 10 years in certain types of habitat," said Jim Camy, manager of the Butte County Mosquito and Vector Control District. Landowners can get financial incentives to create wetlands from programs designed to expand habitat. Sometimes they don't know that creating wetlands habitat can also create a mosquito issue. The mosquito district often finds out -- after the habitat has been created. "People going into these programs aren't aware of the potential problems they create," he said. "There's been a big push by a number of pseudo-private outfits that want to promote wetlands ... We're not against that at all." "But in the interest of informing people, they need to know upfront. They need to know the full ramifications of what they're going into." Otherwise, his agency gets to be "the bad guy" -- when it sends the owners a bill for taking care of the problem. Those on the preserve side say they're only a tiny fraction of the mosquito problem. Dawit Zeleke is the director of the Sacramento River Project for the Nature Conservancy -- which sometimes turns property over to the federal government and sometimes maintains it in private hands. He called the district's statements about a mosquito increase due to increasing wetlands "propaganda." There's "no data" to indicate created wetlands are causing a problem. If there is source for the problem, it's likely the "thousands of acres of rice." But Camy said farmers are generally excellent stewards of the land who don't create problems. It's preserve areas that are sometimes "black with larvae," as Camy put it. "The mosquito guy has all our gate combos and he comes into our office to see what we've got," Zeleke said of their preserves. "We have studies that have shown we're raising more birds and bats -- species that eat more mosquitoes. You have to integrate all that in." Plus, the abatement district isn't making things better by handling the situation in a manner he called "backward." "The other big problem is the mosquitoes are going to build resistance against the chemicals they continually spray," he said. "It's really a backward way of handing it." With the possibility of mosquito-transmitted diseases like West Nile Virus on the horizon, "it's a huge, huge potential health hazard for all of us." The Nature Conservancy has planted about 3,000 acres in four north state counties. In Butte, it owns a maximum of about 600 acres. And the lands are managed to flood when it rains -- when the weather is cold and "there's no mosquitoes." The mosquito district sent the Enterprise-Record a chart for the females of one species of mosquito, Ochlerotatus melanimon, that shows an increase from 33,126 in 1992 to 612,459 in 2001. Dan Moench, assistant manager of the mosquito abatement district, said it's "absolutely" the preserves creating the abatement problem. Some tests show 300 larvae in a dipper of water four inches in diameter and three deep taken from preserves. In a rice field, there might be two larvae in a dip. "That's a bad rice field," he said. Mosquitoes aren't just an annoyance. They spread disease. "Malaria hasn't gone away," Camy warned. "It used to be a problem in this area." And the West Nile Virus is expected this year. Greg Mensic, deputy refuge manager for the Sacramento River Wildlife Refuge, doubted there really was a big problem with mosquitoes caused by preserves. His refuge in Butte County is the Llano Seco unit of the preserve, about 1,700 acres some 10 miles south and southwest of Chico off River Road. About 750 acres of that is riparian habitat. He acknowledged that about 10 percent of that is "summer water," or places where water is added to feed plants or attract birds outside the normal wet season, when mosquitoes can be more of a problem. He said the real issue is not his type of preserve -- it's the duck clubs and rice fields, he argued, with "tens of thousands of acres." Camy said the district is working with all those involved to manage the wetlands so mosquitoes don't result in the first place, and extinguish problems where they arise. Speaking to groups like the duck clubs about how and when they flood has met with some progress. Mensic said he wouldn't dismiss Camy's comments. But he's only received one request to review a spraying proposal, and that was this year. "There is reason for concern here. We'd never dispute that. One of our primary concerns is public health and safety," he said. If there's a mosquito issue, his preserve will change management techniques to prevent it. If a documented health problem exists that can be spread by an infestation, then spraying for it would happen "no matter what it takes." One other problem is that the federal government doesn't pay its bills for mosquito control, Camy said. "We do pay money" that's designed to cover the impact of things like mosquitoes, said Mensic. Under the Refuge Revenue Sharing Act, an annual payment is made to a nationwide fund that's supposed to make up for things like removing land that becomes a preserve from the tax rolls. The tax substitute comes from revenues generated from the wildlife areas. "If the revenues don't make up enough money, Congress is supposed to make up the difference. Congress hasn't been making up the difference, and the counties complain," Mensic said. "The district might not get (enough) money from the fund. But that isn't us." Moench said the in-lieu contribution "amounts to nothing" and that local taxpayers end up footing the bill. |