Funding Dispute Stalls Fire Ant Fight

Although the state and county are supposed to be racing to halt a fire ant infestation weeks before mating season begins, county officials say they are pulling back on their eradication efforts because the state has reneged on a financial agreement to fight the insects.

The county had planned to aggressively seek out areas where fire ant mounds might be found, but because of the budget dispute, officials have decided to respond to infestations only when someone reports their location.

Scientists warn that such a limited approach may be more costly in the long run. The financial rift comes as the fire ants’ springtime mating season is starting, after which the prospect of wiping out the menacing pest may be diminished.

“If your goal is to eradicate them, the sooner you start the better you’re off,” said biologist Walter Tschinkel, a fire ant expert at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has refused to reimburse the county $90,000 it has spent since February to exterminate the stinging red ants, contrary to promises the state made two months ago, said John Sibley, director of the county’s public facilities and resources department.

“Right now, we have no indication we’ll be paid back for the costs we incurred so far, so we question how much more money we should spend,” Sibley said. “We’re not going to do much more until we work this out with the state.”

The rift hasn’t affected the entire effort, since two dozen state pest inspectors continue to comb Orange County and other Southern California communities for fire ant colonies, said Pat Minyard, branch chief for pest detection emergency projects at the state Agriculture Department.

Still, the eradication campaign will be hindered if the county remains on the sidelines for an extended time, Minyard said, and his superiors have asked to meet with Sibley next week to see if the dispute can be resolved.

The battle against the insect could cost the county another $80,000 to $150,000 by June, money Sibley says he simply doesn’t have in his budget.

The dispute comes despite last week’s announcement by state Agriculture Secretary Bill Lyons that $2.8 million in state funds has been set aside to help counties and cities battle fire ants this spring.

However, the money is limited to local eradication efforts done in coordination with the state, and only from April forward. The money covers the cost of pesticides, a statewide public education campaign and training of local officials in the 27 California counties already infested or considered high risk.

Because Orange County launched its own aggressive fire ant campaign in February, before the state became actively involved, it’s not eligible for reimbursement, said state agriculture spokesman Oscar Hidalgo.

Plus, the state funds cannot be used to cover local labor costs--which Sibley said account for more than 80% of Orange County’s expenses.

“We never agreed that we would reimburse the costs of their plan,” Hidalgo said. “Our dollars are tight. We don’t have an excess budget that we can just tap into without cutting back other services.”

Orange County’s best and only hope may be pending legislation to provide more state funding for fire ant programs, Hidalgo said.

But Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer on Thursday said a deputy agriculture commissioner in February assured the county it would be reimbursed.

After the fire ant infestation was discovered, the state also declared a state of emergency in Orange County and assumed jurisdiction over the eradication efforts. Then, in the state eradication plan released in late March, the state tried to shift responsibility of carrying out the costly effort to local governments, Spitzer said.

“If the state is serious about the representations they made to Orange County, they will fulfill their obligations,” Spitzer said. “We haven’t seen any evidence that the state is committed to eradicating the red imported fire ant in Orange County.”

Spitzer said he will oppose committing additional county resources to the effort until the state agrees to the reimbursement, and provides the funding and staff necessary to carry out the eradication plan.

The county will continue to respond to reports of ant infestations on unincorporated county property, but has shelved its initial proposal to scour all parks, roadways and other county lands in search of the ant colonies. The county also is responsible for eradication efforts in Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo, areas already under quarantine.

Fire ants already have infiltrated 23 of Orange County’s cities and four unincorporated areas. More ants have been found in Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County, and in eight Riverside County communities.

Natives of South America, fire ants first appeared in the United States in the 1930s in Mobile, Ala. Over six decades, the ants have spread throughout the Southeast and Texas before finding their way to the West Coast.

The state’s battle plan, announced March 19, calls for treating areas infested with fire ants with two proven pesticides. The ground baits will be applied with spreaders rather than by aerial spraying, the controversial method used to fight the Mediterranean fruit fly.

The plan also calls for a mass mailing to alert Californians about the dangers posed by the swarming, stinging fire ants, especially to children, and the best ways to eliminate them.

“This is a long-term process,” Minyard said. “You don’t defeat red imported fire ants overnight. It involves the participation of the public, of everybody.”

Despite the efforts, fire ant experts across the county doubt California will succeed in wiping out the tiny pest when every other state that’s tried has failed.

In the South, the fire ants’ breeding season is triggered by the drenching rains and heat of summer, conditions simulated by the yard sprinklers and warm springtime weather in Southern California’s lush suburbs and agricultural areas.

“They are very dependent on water, so any area that is irrigated is very susceptible,” said Charles Barr, a fire ant expert at the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.

The region’s hot, dry weather and occasional cold snaps may slow the fire ants’ spread but are not likely to stop it, he said.

“The idea of eradication has just not been successful,” Barr said.