Nurseries Face Oak Disease Test

State and federal regulators are expected to announce today an ambitious plan to test every nursery and Christmas tree farm in Oregon for the presence of sudden oak death.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., and nursery owner Bob Terry late Tuesday confirmed the plan, which will involve federal inspectors gathering plants for testing from about 2,000 nurseries across the state. The tests will be conducted within the next 60 days and include as many as three examinations of each plant.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture stopped short of imposing an emergency order that would have prohibited Oregon nurseries from shipping plants susceptible to sudden oak death. It's unclear whether such a quarantine would be imposed if the disease is discovered during the new testing.

Terry, who owns nurseries in Washington and Yamhill counties, said the decision to test 30 to 40 plants at each location is largely welcomed by the $714 million Oregon nursery industry, which prefers that to a quarantine.

Oregon is the nation's largest exporter of nursery products, shipping most of its annual production -- nearly $500 million worth -- across state lines, according to the Oregon Association of Nurseries.

"We ship to everywhere in the country," said Terry, who owns nurseries in Gaston, Dayton and Sherwood. "That's why this is so critical."

A Wu spokesman, Patrick Morris, said federal inspectors will collect samples from the nurseries, but the Oregon Department of Agriculture will conduct the testing.

Sudden oak death was discovered last month in plants at a Columbia County nursery, prompting state regulators to announce a limited local quarantine. The infected plants were destroyed, but nursery owners worried the Agriculture Department would announce a statewide ban on plant shipments.

The new testing is designed to appease regulators and show the state's plants are clean so that no statewide quarantine is necessary.

"The discovery of SOD in Columbia County is a serious matter for all involved," Wu said in a statement, "and it is one that has to be dealt with in an open, transparent and cooperative manner by all levels of government and industry."