KY FY23 SLF Outreach 5.0397.01 (Spotted Lanternfly Outreach)

Spotted Lanternfly Outreach FY23 Abstract: Provide a brief summary of the project in 500 words or less. Include a short description of your project’s purpose, objectives, methodology, intended beneficial outcome, and the roles of other cooperators on the project (if applicable). (479 words) Until recently, spotted lanternfly (SLF) has been found in states bordering Kentucky such as Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia, but the known infestations were not close to Kentucky''s borders. However, a July 2021 detection of SLF in Vevay, Indiana is only 4 miles from the Ohio River which separates Indiana and Kentucky. Carroll and Gallatin Counties have a nearly continuous stretch of industrial and manufacturing sites on the Kentucky side of the river. With this new threat, we submitted an SLF Outreach proposal and received PPA 7721 for FY22. These funds allowed us to hire a dedicated staff position to focus on SLF outreach and training the public to look for this pest. We were able to fill this position on June 1, 2022 with a highly- qualified individual who has experience with invasive pests and outreach. Continued funding is needed in FY23 so that this individual can continue this important work. Our new SLF specialist has used and will continue to use several strategies to engage with and educate the public about signs and symptoms of SLF, pathways of movement, and ongoing survey and eradication efforts nationwide. First, he has implemented a citizen scientist program to assist with a visual survey for SLF and its preferred host, tree of heaven. He will expand this program in FY23 to include more groups. Second, he will educate the public and industry groups such as arborists, nurseries, and vineyards about SLF. In FY22 so far, he has visited over 20 locations that could be potentially affected by SLF. He has met with property owners and has distributed SLF information to them that can then be disseminated to the public through those businesses. According to wineamerica.org, Kentucky wineries have a $1.1 billion economic impact on the state and this industry could be devastated by SLF. Social media will also be used to educate the public about this pest. Publications and mailings may also be generated and distributed. Third, he will focus on training county extension agents about SLF by updating a training module, first created in FY22, that will be included in the continuing education that agents must complete each year. Each of Kentucky’s 120 counties has an extension office and these agents are often the first person contacted by citizens when they see something of concern. By including SLF in the yearly training, each agent will then be able to educate the citizens in their counties. We will demonstrate the effectiveness of this outreach program by keeping records of: numbers of citizens educated via the citizen scientist training, number of sites visually surveyed by citizen scientists, numbers and locations of tree of heaven in the state, numbers of county extension agents trained by the SLF module, numbers and reach of social media posts, and quantities of outreach materials developed. We will generate survey maps from the data gathered by the citizen scientists.