New Pine Shoot Beetle Quarantine Proposed for Maine
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, proposes to amend Maine’s Pine Shoot Beetle (PSB) Quarantine to include all counties except Aroostook and Washington under quarantine. Current state regulations make it difficult for pine processing facilities to obtain pine because all of the surrounding suppliers are regulated (considered infested) for PSB. By amending the regulations to include the 14 counties with pine processing facilities, these facilities will be able to obtain pine and continue to operate. Aroostook and Washington County sawmills do not report receiving any regulated pine. In addition, landowners in those two counties generate pine products and Christmas trees that they ship to unregulated areas and they would be negatively impacted if they were included in the regulated area.
Two public hearings will be held in Bangor on Monday, November 13, 2006 at the Penobscot County Cooperative Extension Meeting Room at 307 Maine Avenue (Exit 183 from Interstate 95). The afternoon session will be held from 2:00 – 4:00 pm and the evening session is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm. Deadline for comments has been set for 4:00 pm on Monday, November 27, 2006.
Please direct questions or comments to the following Agency contact:
Robert I. Batteese, Jr., Acting Director
Division of Plant Industry
28 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333
Phone: 207-287-3891
Fax: 207-624-5003