A pilot program of wide area gypsy moth management from 1992 – 1999 and nationally excepted strategy for the mitigation of gypsy moth impacts beginning in 2000. The Slow the Spread project is a USDA-Forest Service national strategy whose objective is the implementation of operational and technological strategies for slowing the spread of the gypsy moth along the population’s leading edge in the United States
Highlights
- STS initiated in 1992 with 3 pilot state cooperators (Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina) with Michigan added in 1993. Expanded in 1999 to include 4 additional state cooperators (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin) and eventually adding Minnesota and Iowa.
- STS annually deploys approximately 80,000 pheromone traps and manages additional state cooperator data which brings the annual database total to around 130,000 managed traps.
- ASETS currently provides regional database and GIS coordination supporting Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.
- Collaborate with USDA Forest Service, APHIS PPQ, and state cooperators on the design and implementation of the STS trapping program.
- Development and operation of the Northern STS GIS, database, and IT infrastructure.
- Develop management and access strategies for STS geospatial and tabular data using various information technologies.
Key contributions of the Northern regional database node include:
- Automated data flow: field-based GPS data extraction, visualization and upload.
- Developed online error correction and trap reports for tracking progress.
- Developed ATLAS software for data visualization and error correction.
- Development and hosting of numerous key project web services.
- Design and production of field trapping maps for numerous cooperating states.
- Initiated the exploration and adoption of spatial database technology.
- Initiated and lead the development of current online project planning tools.
