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<br />
<br />Vernal, Ut$, gets $15,OOO_formosquito control
<br />
<br />Residents of Vernal" Utiih, and the
<br />surrounding area have fewer mosqui"
<br />toes to swat, thanks to pest-control
<br />funding provided ,by' a multi~agency
<br />program to recover endangered fish. ,',
<br />In response to concerns expressed
<br />by local citizens, the top-leVel commit-', '
<br />tee ,of the Recovery Program' for En-,
<br />dangered Fish of the Upper Colorado
<br />River Basin voted in September at its
<br />meeting in Denver to make a one-time'
<br />contribution of up to $15,000 to the
<br />Uintah 'County Mosquito Abatement,
<br />District. '
<br />, The. district, uSed the, ,money 'in
<br />spring 1995 to curb mosquito produc:
<br />tion .that can accompany water releases .
<br />,from Flaming Gorge Dam to benefit
<br />endangered fish. ' ' ,
<br />The dIDn releaSes, combined with
<br />already high water from melting snow' 'Managers of the Recovery Program for Eridangere<IFish of thil Upper COlorado
<br />, pack in the YampaRiver, can force wa- " River agreed to provide as much as $10,000 to thilUintah CoiJntYMosqu~o
<br />ter over the banks and 'onto nearby , Abatement District for. use in spring 1995.Th,e money would help offsat
<br />flood plains, creating slow-water areas increased mosqu~o production that may occur if higher volumes of water are
<br />necessary for growtliof young endaJ?'- released from Flaming Gorge Dam for endangered fish. "
<br />gered fish. These same areas, however, '
<br />are prime breeding grounds for mos-
<br />quitoes. .
<br />"We are sympathetic to the public
<br />health concerns this situation creates for
<br />the local community, and in response,
<br />we are providing an interim sourc,e of
<br />money to, address the problem,", said
<br />John Hamill, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife
<br />, Service biologist who directs the Re-
<br />covery Program. ''We are providing this
<br />as 'seed money' for 1995 only, with the
<br />Wlderstanding that the Mosquito Abate- ,
<br />ment District will look for other_funding
<br />
<br />'Spraying in this area
<br />kills hundreds, of mil-
<br />lions 'of: mO$quitoes
<br />'and 'will make a tre-
<br />mendous dijference to
<br />
<br />. . ,
<br />cztizens.
<br />.-c. Steve Romney, Ph_D.
<br />
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<br />
<br />even a dentiri the number'of mosqui-
<br />toes in this flood plain is nO small feat.
<br />The oUray National Wildlife Refuge
<br />holds Utah's record for 'collection of
<br />these tiny toonentors. During an ex-
<br />, perimentthere in 1978, scientists col-
<br />lected more than 400,000 mosquitoes'
<br />in just one night.
<br />The Mosquito Abatement District '
<br />uSed the money to pay for aerial spray-
<br />ing along 56 miles of the Green RiVer,
<br />from below Dinosaur National Monu-
<br />ment to. the town, of Ouray,' Utah.
<br />Workers completed most of the spray-
<br />ingin May and June, when mosquito
<br />breeding is at its peak, and willsupple--
<br />, ment with ,additionalsprayings as
<br />needed thro)Jgh AUgust.
<br />"During spring; the Green River is
<br />the most productive of any mosquito,
<br />'habitat in ,the county," said SteVe Rom-
<br />ney, Ph.D., director of the Uintah
<br />County Mosquito Abatement District.
<br />"Spraying in this area ki\ls l1undreds of
<br />millions of mosquitoes and makes' a
<br />'tremendous difference to citizens."
<br />The spray used is a larvacide called
<br />BTI (bacillus thuringiensis israelen-
<br />sis), a biodegradable, "environmen-
<br />ta1ly-friendly"toxin that ki\ls mos-
<br />quito,larvae but has almost no effect on,
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<br />anythingeise, Romney said.
<br />"BTI acts almost exClusively on
<br />mosquitoes, does not accumulate in the
<br />environment and is recognized by en-
<br />vironmental experts' as asafe 'alterna-
<br />tive to traditional pesticides," he said.
<br />The active ingredient is a "crystalline
<br />protein endotoxin" px:oduced by com-
<br />mercially grown bacteria
<br />In addition to being annoying pests
<br />to area residents and tourists, mosqui-
<br />toes can create streSs in livestock and
<br />ciccasioniilly transmit 'certain strains of
<br />'encephalitis, potentially serious viral
<br />'infectioDs that can afflict people and
<br />h!lrses, according'to Romney.
<br />"Although Flaming Gorge Darn Ie-
<br />leilses for endangered fish are aimed at
<br />increasing Green River: flows in the
<br />, spring, mucj1 of the river's water volume
<br />. cOIlles from melted snowpack in the
<br />free-flowing Yampa River.
<br />For example, while in May 199J
<br />Green River flows peaked at about
<br />20,000 cubic feet per second, only about
<br />'2,000 cfs of that came from Flaming
<br />Gorge releases. The Yampa River con-
<br />tributed around, 18,000 efs. Before
<br />Flaming' Gorge was built, Green River
<br />flows upstream of the Yampa averaged
<br />7,800 cfs.
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