The Township of Spallumcheen wants its neighbour to reconsider its application to be removed from a valley-wide program. The City of Armstrong has sent notice to the North Okanagan Regional District that it would like to pull out of the sterile insect release (SIR) program, a move the township doesn’t support. “We felt they were as much a contributor to the coddling moth as much as any other jurisdiction, based on the number of host trees in Armstrong for coddling moth,” said Spallumcheen Mayor Will Hansma. “There are more things that contribute to coddling moth than just orchards. Backyard trees are probably the biggest problem for the SIR board.” Hansma said the SIR board did a review and found that the City of Armstrong had in excess of 1,000 host trees for coddling moth in the city boundaries. Without Armstrong’s participation in the SIR program, said Hansma, there’s no vehicle for the SIR board to use to try and limit the host trees in the boundary of Armstrong. “Coddling moths know no boundaries,” he said. “We’ve got orchards adjacent to Armstrong and we can spray until we’re blue in the face, but it won’t make any difference because the coddling moth will be thriving in the city.” If Armstrong has more than 1,000 host trees for coddling moth, Mayor Chris Pieper would like to know where they are. “We have no commercial orchards in Armstrong, and I don’t believe we have more than 1,000 apple trees,” said Pieper.
Armstrong is an original member of the SIR program, which Pieper figures came into existence between 12 and 15 years ago. Almost four years ago, Armstrong received a lower classification in the program with other regional district members because they have no commercial orchards, which meant their financial contribution went from approximately $12,000 a year down to about $4,000. “We participated in the program for the good of the Okanagan,” said Pieper. “Now that some of the regional district partners have pulled out because they were allowed to, we thought we’d pull out to. If we’re not all in, we should be all out.” Pieper said Armstrong’s application would need unanimous support from NORD to be accepted, and that’s not likely given Spallumcheen’s objection. “If the city puts on some sort of program to eliminate the host trees within the city, and demonstrates that the host trees are gone, then we can support them getting out of the function,” said Hansma. “As long as there are that many trees, there is no way can support them at this time.”
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