The Department's Spongy Moth Cooperative Suppression Program is designed to protect priority forest and shade trees in selected sites on public and private forested land. The three major objectives of the program are:

1. to prevent spongy moth defoliation that can lead to weakening or death of affected trees;
2. to reduce spongy moth populations to a level so that insecticide retreatment of the site will not be necessary for one or more years; and,
3. to utilize pest management techniques that will achieve the most efficient and effective results on a continuing basis with the time, material and people resources available.

The Cooperative Spongy Moth Suppression Program is a partnership between the Department, the USDA Forest Service, local jurisdictions and landowners. The Program has operated successfully with an average 97% foliage protection since 1982. An Integrated Pest Management approach is used, beginning with extensive pest population surveys targeted at susceptible high value rural and urban forested areas of Maryland. To read about the major components of the Maryland Cooperative Spongy Moth Suppression Program, including the approach, policies and established procedures by which the program is conducted, select the “Approach” or “Policy” choices at the left.

If you would like to opt out of the Spongy Moth Suppression Program please follow the below link.

https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/Public-Information.aspx​