July 30, 2013
Tuesday PM

Pulling tansy is a time consuming practice and is not 100% effective.  In addition to the pulling of the plant with its root wad, using a biological control is also necessary.  I brought this to the attention of the Alaska Department of Transportation, the borough, and the community the first year that I spotted a very small amount of tansy along side the highway at the big curve at Ward Cove.  I was ignored and now tansy is in a much larger area.

The state of Oregon has been successfully using biological control for years.  Initially it was just the cinnabar moths.  I remember when a representative from the state came to the house to discuss bringing the moths to help with the tansy on and around our property.  Although we still had to pull plants, the moths did a great job in reducing the number of plants.  Unfortunately we lost one pony in 1982 to tansy poisoning and the other was ill with liver damage for a number of years before finally dying.  
http://www.oregon.gov/oda/pages/news/110810tansy.aspx

Margaret Cloud
Ketchikan, Alaska

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