APHIS extends comment period on suppression of grasshopper, cricket numbers

Service (APHIS) said today it is extending until March 18 the comment period on a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that analyzes efforts to suppress populations of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets from 17 wesetrn states.

(Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming).

APHIS last published an EIS for the grasshopper and Mormon cricket suppression program in 2002. Because there have been scientific and technological advances since then, APHIS is seeking comments on a new EIS that addresses environmental effects of suppression alternatives available to the agency. This EIS updates the science and adds a chemical treatment option.

The announcement for this EIS was originally published in the Federal Register on December 28, Comments may be submitted at eRulemaking Portal:  Docket No. APHIS-2016-0045-0001 at regulations.gov.

–The Hagstrom Report