ALASKA CAPS PROGRAM

What is CAPS?

The Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) is a joint effort between states and federal agriculture agencies. The purpose of this program is to help safeguard agricultural and environmental resources by ensuring that new introductions of harmful exotic pests and diseases are detected before they are able to cause significant damage. This is accomplished through survey, detection, and monitoring efforts of exotic plant pests, which include plant diseases, insects, weeds, nematodes, and other invertebrate organisms. CAPS is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

Alaska CAPS Surveys

Alaska has been involved with the CAPS program since the early 1980's.

Surveys are prioritized based on Alaska's agricultural and environmental resource industry needs. The Alaska's CAPS Committee is an advisory group for Alaska CAPS survey activities. When deciding which surveys to conduct, the CAPS program takes into consideration requests made by industry members.

Through the years, CAPS has conducted surveys for potato cyst nematode, emerald ash borer, light brown apple moth, purple loosestrife, Illyrian thistle, giant hogweed, pine wilt nematode, potato late blight, peony mosaic virus, tobacco rattle virus nematode, and thrips associated with peonies to name a few.

Alaska CAPS Committee:

The committee is made up of the State Plant Health Director, State Plant Regulatory Official, Pest Survey Specialist, State Survey Coordinator, State Operations Coordinator, and various specialists including plant pathologists, forest entomologists, weed specialists, and cooperative extension service staff. The Alaska CAPS Committee includes individuals who are active in the Alaskan agricultural community and knowledgeable about the pests and diseases that have the potential to make it to and establish in Alaska.

Name	Specialty / Function	Address
Timothy St. Germain	State Plant Health Director, WA & AK	USDA APHIS PPQ33400 9th Avenue S. Federal Way, WA 98003
Mia Kirk	State Plant Regulatory Officer	Alaska Division of Agriculture 1800 Glenn Hwy, Suite 12 Palmer, AK 99645-6736
Yolanda Inguanzo	Pest Survey Specialist for WA & AK, Entomologist	USDA APHIS PPQ 1550 Irving St SW, Suite 100 Tumwater, WA 98512
Jina Malone	Acting State Survey Coordinator	Alaska Division of Agriculture 1800 Glenn Highway, Suite 12 Palmer, AK 99645-6736
Clinton Campbell, Ph.D.	State Operations Coordinator Entomologist, WA & AK	USDA-APHIS
Gino Graziano	University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service Pest Mgt. Program Manager	Cooperative Extension Service 1675 C Street Anchorage, AK 99501
Phil Kaspari	University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service Weed Specialist - Grain & Forage	Cooperative Extension Service P.O. Box 349 Delta Junction, AK 99737
Jason Moan	Forest Entomologist	Alaska Division of Forestry 550 W. 7th Avenue, Ste 1450 Anchorage, AK 99501-3566
Todd Steinlage	Plant Pathologist	Alaska Division of Agriculture Plant Materials Center 5310 S Bodenburg Spur Palmer, AK 99645
Elizabeth Graham	Forest Entomologist	USDA Forest Service Alaska State & Private Forestry 11175 Auke Lake Way Juneau, AK 99801

Current Surveys -

Nursery Survey
Asian Defoliator Moth Survey

Contact

Mia Kirk
(907) 767-3866
mia.kirk@alaska.gov

Jina Malone
(907) 761-3858
jina.malone@alaska.gov

Additional Resources:

CAPS Website
Pest Tracker: Exotic Pest Reporting
USDA-APHIS-PPQ Website
Bugwood Network