Is Bti destroying the food chain?



The purpose of this article is to secure a study like the one conducted by VPI before the spraying was introduced in the New River in the 1980s — since there is no scientific evidence that Bti is causing our concerns inside and outside the river, and there is no scientific evidence that it is not responsible for the loss of the food chain.

The National Park Service has monitored (LTEMS) the river below the Bluestone Dam once a year, in August, for 20 years. The AGI uses this data and press releases to justify spraying the black fly (gnats) which are the main chain. Fishermen who fish this section and landowners realize the concerns we have for the river (something has destroyed the food chain).

The state is spraying 150 miles of the rivers — New, Bluestone and Greenbrier — at a cost of close to $1 million. This is the only area in the state that is free of the black fly without any monitoring of the rivers up until the end of 2008.

In 2009, thanks to Sen. Byrd and the U.S. Department of Interior, a new LTMES was added (in front of my home) at the bottom of the Tug Creek Shoals. The only other monitoring of the river between the dam and Sandstone was by Dr. Voshell (VPI) and a workshop conducted by Scott Fanello of the NPS on Sept. 16, 2009.

0n April 14, 2002, after watching the great fishing decline, I tried to make everyone aware of the problem by a newspaper article. Our problems could not be printed saying they were hearsay.

After this I called the NPS asking for records and was told they could not furnish them. I wrote to several political representatives, none would answer my letters except Byrd, Rockefeller and Rahall — all sending them to the NPS and AGI. This being a political issue, no state politician would respond to them thinking they can’t get elected opposing the spraying program with no consideration for the harm it is doing to the river. No response from Wise, Anderson or Kiss. Not knowing the records were public I stopped fighting it.

In 2007 we tried to make our concerns known but no one would listen. The top people who are in charge of the program are people who know nothing about the river, only using press releases and more for it than against to justify the spraying. Our concerns for the river have gotten worse each year from 2000, with 2009 being the worst year. No one wants to believe they exist.

Only where the spraying is being applied are there no gnats. They are all over the state. I have been in seven counties hunting and fishing and have talked to fishermen and hunters and anyone who would listen, and the gnats are all over the state. I tell them if they want a bug free vacation come to Hinton. But if they want to fish bring them.

I have lived at this address for 49 years and I consider my knowledge of the river as good as anyone. There is no scientific evidence that the Bti is the problem and none that it isn’t after 25 years. I have approximately 1,500 pages of data furnished to me by the NPS and AGI plus all my data that I shared with Reeder and Striker, both agree we need a study. I also have about 300 letters and e-mails. The data from the NPS and AGI are public record.

Fishermen and anyone concerned about the river should ask for these records and decide for yourself before the fishing is completely destroyed.



J.E. “Squirrel” Wood

Hinton