Item by Chris Graham
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Shenandoah National Park is planning an aerial-spraying program aimed at suppressing exotic gypsy-moth caterpillars along sections of the Skyline Drive corridor.
The program will begin in mid-May, a park spokesman said today.
The effort is being undertaken because gypsy-moth levels have built over the course of the past two years to the point where they have caused considerable forest defoliation along northern sections of the Skyline Drive.
A total of 7,305 acres of forest defoliation was recorded in 2007.
The last time the park engaged in gypsy-moth spraying efforts was in 1995.