GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Winter2018 - 53

in your community

GreaterReadingChamber.org

IT WILL TAKE US ALL:
Fighting the Spotted
Lanternfly

Wesley T. Stefanick
Director, Government and Community Affairs
Reading-Berks Association of REALTORS®

B

erks County is in a battle that has been raging since
September 2014, but Pennsylvania's war with the Spotted
Lanternfly (SLF) has only just begun.

While it is no longer a stranger to many of us here in Berks
County, many within the Commonwealth are still unaware of the
SLF threat.

While initial efforts helped slow the growth of the SLF, the
infestation exploded in 2017 and is no longer just a Berks County
issue. What was once a one-county quarantine is now a 13-county
quarantine and reports of the SLF have surfaced in the states of
New York and Delaware.
After the SLF was found in Berks County, the PA Dept. of
Agriculture and Penn State Extension immediately began a unified
response effort to eradicate the fly. Limited funding was provided
by the state and federal governments, but not nearly enough to
adequately exterminate this invasive insect.
The SLF threat is very real. Pennsylvania has a $16.7 billion
forest products industry, $134 million fruit industry, $944 million
nursery and landscape industry-all of which could be greatly
impacted by the SLF. It doesn't stop there. Examples include:
residential and commercial property values, Port of Philadelphia
shipping operations, interstate commerce, tourism, manufacturing,
and quality of life are all at immeasurable risk.
It will take all of us, working together, to inform our families,
friends, neighborhoods, and employees. Spreading information

about the SLF has been difficult because, perhaps, we have never
faced a challenge like this in Pennsylvania and nobody really
knows the true impact of the SLF.
Thankfully, local businesses have already taken the lead here
in Berks County. One example is East Penn Manufacturing.
According to Karen George, Environmental Affairs Manager,
"East Penn Manufacturing is aware of the seriousness of the
Spotted Lanternfly problem and has collaborated with the PA
Dept. of Agriculture in developing and implementing a number
of initiatives to help address and prevent the spread of the SLF.
East Penn has been banding Ailanthus trees (Tree of Heaven)
for the past 3 years. East Penn has and will continue to educate
its employees, contractors, and visitors in order to help limit
the spread of the SLF. Also, at the request of the PA Dept. of
Agriculture, East Penn has entered into a Treatment Order for the
SLF."
It is important that everyone remembers that the Spotted
Lanternfly is not a nuisance bug like the Brown Marmorated
Stinkbug or the Gypsy Moth. It does much more serious, lasting,
and pervasive damage and will affect many industries across the
Commonwealth. Do your part, like East Penn is doing theirs, to
fight the SLF-inform, educate, and act.
Informational materials may be obtained on the PA Dept. of
Agriculture's website at agriculture.pa.gov/spottedlanternfly.

53
http://www.GreaterReadingChamber.org http://agriculture.pa.gov/spottedlanternfly
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Winter2018
