Protests mounting against SIR program

By Judie Steeves staff reporter Apr 01 2007 http://www.kelownacapnews.com/

Jan Van Doorn of Peachland is furious that the Sterile Insect Release program board is forcing her to strip immature fruit from her trees, but board members say all residents have a responsibility to control the codling moth. The SIR program is a multi-million dollar biological control program against a non-native pest of apples, with the intent to reduce the use of pesticides in valley orchards, but its success depends on everyone cooperating, explained manager Cara McCurrach. It involves the irradiation of codling moths and their release in orchards to mate ineffectively with wild moths, producing no offspring. It is the larva stage of the insect that is a pest of apples, because it burrows into the fruit, destroying its marketability.

All property owners pay toward the cost of the program through taxes and it’s run by a board made up of representatives of all regional districts in the valley. When they met in Kelowna Friday, they ordered 10 valley residents with backyard trees to strip all the immature fruit from their trees because they were infested with codling moth the previous season. The decisions were against appeals by all 10 property owners, including the Van Doorns. She appeared before the board members and said: “It’s upsetting. I don’t feel I have the support of this program. We spray and prune and I’ll get a professional sprayer in this year to see if that works better. “We’re not neglecting the place. It’s not abandoned,” she told them. However, board member Fred Danenhower, an organic grower, explained that educating people about how to control the codling moth is not the role of SIR staff. He suggested those wanting to grow tree fruits such as apples, pears or crabapples in their yards, hire a pest control specialist or go to an entomologist for information about how to control the pest. To her allegations that the program is not working anyway, he said he hasn’t had to spray for codling moth for the past six years in the southern part of the valley, where it is already working.

Director Stan Field told her the board treats orchardists the same way those with backyard trees are treated, with warnings, orders to remove all fruit by May 15, followed by orders to remove trees, if the codling moth infestation is not controlled. “It’s expensive and time-consuming but it’s very serious. It has to be suppressed,” added director Fred Steele. The alternative, explained director Allan Patton, is an order to remove the trees, not just the fruit. Board member Kevin Flynn, who noted he is not an orchardist, told her, “Stripping a couple of trees in your yard is a small price to pay for the protection of the orchard industry in this valley. “You have a responsibility to look after your trees,” he concluded. At stake is the livelihood of those in the orchard industry, agreed McCurrach, and it is threatened if hobby growers don’t control the insect on their properties.

SIR enforcement officer Sherri Kimmie noted this year is the last one for the SIR incentive programs, including gift certificates for fruit removals and the removal of host trees. After that, there will simply be orders to remove fruit or trees if residents don’t control the pest on them, she said. Board members also approved orders to remove 34 host trees. Kimmie noted that of 66 tree removal orders issued, more than half of the property owners complied, and none of them appealed the order. Board members also discussed a change in policy to allow staff to deal with appeals of fruit removal orders for backyard trees, rather than those going to the board.

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Don Quixote Note: Vernon taxpayers are assessed $179,096 in taxes based on land values only. Total Nord taxes in this category are $275,267. (Vernon pays 65.06%).There is a further SIR Parcel Tax where Vernon only pays $15,234 out of the Nord total parcel tax assessment of $112,518