Congress Cuts New Orleans Termite Control Program

Formosan termite damage in a New Orleans home.
Photo: USDA Agricultural Research Service

The people of New Orleans have been abandoned by the federal government again. Congress recently eliminated funding for a 13-year-old program that kept invasive termites from destroying historic French Quarter homes and businesses. Operation Full Stop reduced the number of Formosan subterranean termite colonies in the French Quarter by 85% in the past 8 years. Property owners will now have to battle the hungry pests without federal funds to support the expensive control efforts.

New Orleans' French Quarter district is a veritable utopia for Formosan subterranean termites, which were introduced to the U.S. from Asia just after World War II. The combination of centuries-old, wooden structures and a near-tropical climate makes the French Quarter perfect habitat for the pests. Row homes with shared walls function as termite highways, making even a single home infestation a risk for the entire neighborhood. Formosan termites can reduce a structure to sawdust in just two years, if undetected and untreated.

When Operation Full Stop launched in 1998, the city estimated that Formosan termites cost the local economy $300 million per year for treatments and repairs. Absent federal funding, that cost must now be borne by the people of New Orleans. At a time when property owners in New Orleans are already reeling from the costs they incurred from Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill, and the economic recession, do the feds really think they'll have thousands to spare for termite control?

Operation Full Stop was an ambitious initiative. Under the management of the LSU AgCenter, the program employed a 3-prong approach to termite control: monitor, treat, and research. Program staff currently monitor 600 in-ground stations and 100 sticky cards to track termite infestations. Professional pest control technicians treat every building in the program area, helping eliminate untreated sites that could attract the termites and enable them to spread. Scientists use DNA profiles to identify colonies, and conduct research on the efficacy of treatments. The approach worked.

Like the people of New Orleans, the termites bounced back after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city. Operation Full Stop is the one thing the federal government did right for the Big Easy in the past decade. It's a shame, perhaps even a tragedy, that such a successful program is a casualty of the 2011 Washington budget wars. New Orleans is a city of national landmarks, with a rich history that reflects its resilience. But after surviving floods, winds, and oil, the Big Easy just may succumb to a tiny termite now.

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