2023 Updates
4/27/23 5:30pm Update
Pine State has completed their treatments for property owners who have consented in as of early afternoon thanks to some unexpected cooperation from the weather. Please everyone be safe and enjoy the opening weekend. More information to follow. For any questions, please contact btm@fryeislandtown.org.
4/26/23 7am Update
Pine State will be treating properties on the island today. Unfortunately, the weather has not improved for Thursday so this may be the last day for treatment before the island opens. Town properties and roadways are being treated in conjunction with the private properties who have consented to pay for treatment. If you have not received a confirmation email from the town that no treatment is needed, please check your email (and spam folder) for a possible quote for treatment. Please contact btm@fryeislandtown.org for any questions or concerns regarding a property. If you have received a quote, please contact Pine State directly at 207-407-7865 as soon as possible.
There are a total of 61 private properties that have been determined to need treatment this year (down from 191 last year) with 22% of consenting properties needing treatment (as opposed to 68% last year) with similar response totals. More data to follow.
Note: In rare instances, property owners with multiple properties may have received an email saying that no treatment was needed at their property, however, they do in fact have treatment needed for another property. Most affected owners have been contacted, but it is possible someone has been missed in the high volume of data. We apologize for this error, and please contact btm@fryeislandtown.org with any questions or concerns.
4/25/23 2:30pm Update
Pine State has been out in the field completing over 100 assessments that came in over the weekend. Unfortunately, the weather window is shrinking and treatments can only be done tomorrow (Wed 4/26) before the island opens. Pine State has informed us that they need responses to any quote issued by 8pm this evening (Tues 4/25). Please check your emails and voice mail as the afternoon and evening progresses, there are are still quite a few houses on Ridge and the center of the island they are heading off to assess this afternoon. More to follow.
4/24/23 7:30pm Update
As of this evening we have received 235 consents for assessment (and 52 declines). It was wet and rainy on the island today, but members from the Pine State team will be back on island tomorrow (Tues 4/25) to start assessing the 95 (and counting) requests that came in over the weekend. If the weather clears up treatments (if needed) can resume Wednesday (4/26). As always, feel free to direct any questions to btm@fryeislandtown.org
Brown Tail Moth 2023 Assessment Update (4/23/23)
As of Saturday 4/22, Pine State has assessed 140 of the private lots on the island. As expected, the majority of last year’s hot spots that were treated have little to no brown tail moth nests this year (especially areas of consistent consent). We are observing hot spots around locations that refused treatment last year. It is vital that all homeowners respond to the consent survey. If you did not receive this survey, please email btm@fryeislandtown.org, otherwise your property will not be assessed.
As of Saturday 4/22, only 165 properties responded to the consent survey. Of those:
140 Properties were assessed last week (25 properties denied assessment)
27 properties have been determined to need treatment for brown tail moth
17.3% of properties assessed so far in 2023 need treatment (68% in 2022)
There are 70 properties that received treatment last year that were assessed last week. Only 20 of those properties need additional treatment this year.
2 properties identified as having nests declined treatment (both at the lowest price tier)
~385 properties have not responded to the survey
**40 more consent surveys came in over the weekend that will be processed this week. Please encourage and remind your neighbors to respond to the survey by Monday April 24.
Last year (2022):
330 properties consented for town paid treatment up to 50 feet down a private driveway.
Of those, 279 properties also consented to all required private paid treatment
190 private lots received treatment [68%].
9 properties refused all treatment including the public treatment that the town provided
51 properties refused consent for private treatment only.
~220 properties did not respond.
If you choose to opt out of consent, your property will not be assessed. Please understand, that even if you are one of the lucky few who is not allergic to brown tail moth, that your refusal can and will impact your neighbors and the properties around you. Both the caterpillars and the hairs are easily blown in the wind. The rash is not only extremely uncomfortable, but may be life threatening to some, particularly if someone breathes in a hair. In addition, trees that are infested for multiple years run a greater risk of failing and may require tree removal expenses down the road.
The town is paying for the road side spray program, and the assessment of private property is being provided as a courtesy to you by our contractor, but you must “opt in”. Our approach this year ensures that you receive an estimate of treatment cost prior to approving treatment, so you are not writing a “blank check”. However, due to the very small window of time to treat, you will need to respond to a treatment quote within 24 hours so please monitor your email daily over the next few days.
If you have financial concerns, please reach out and talk to us to see if we can find a solution.
If you are identified as having nests but plan to use a different pesticide contractor, can you please let us know so we can note that on our map.
If you have already opted out and would like to reconsider, please contact btm@fryeislandtown.org by Monday April 24.
If you have other concerns, please also reach out and let’s discuss them. By joining together, we can greatly reduce the risk of brown tail moths on the island and preserve both our island’s character and the value of our real estate.
4/20/23 - From Pine State Pest Solutions (Pine State) - The overall state of the island is significantly better than last year, though we did find pockets of moderate to heavy activity, most of which were in areas where there was severe activity last year and residents refused treatment on their properties.
The big difference during the initial 2023 assessment was the lack of trees along the road and on town property that were severely infested. There were sporadic trees along the roads that had 1-3 nests this year versus 20-30 last year. This is evidence of how effective last year's program and treatment was and resulted in a significant drop in the population. There were no areas on town land or private property that were treated last year that we found to be "severe" or "heavy" this year. However, there were areas of “moderate” infestation (8-10 nests) on town or private land treated in 2022 that were near severely infested areas that were left untreated.
Unfortunately, there is no way to completely eradicate the brown-tail moths, but we significantly decreased the population last year, especially in areas of consistently applied treatment and consent by property owners.