The Washington State Department of Agriculture will no longer be monitoring waterways in the state as of 2012. Nursery-level monitoring required under the Confirmed Nursery Protocol will continue. Stream baiting efforts are still be conducted by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR); however, with 2012 sampling having commenced in late January in 5 counties and 10 watercourses. The first (of likely six) round of samples has been retrieved for analysis. In addition to leaf baiting, DNR will be working with the USDA Forest Service on “Bottle of Bait” protocols to assay each of the streams for P. ramorum. More baiting stations will likely be added to the survey over the course of the sampling period if P. ramorum is detected at any of the sites.
from the March COMTF newsletter
