OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Agriculture Pest Program is seeking permission from property owners in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties to treat their yards for Japanese beetle, according to an announcement from the WSDA. 

Over 17,600 property owners in the treatment area will begin receiving letters in their mailboxes, according to the announcement. The letters include information about the project as well as a consent form to have their property treated for Japanese beetles. The treatments are free to those in the treatment area that sign up. 

“We’re looking for 100 percent participation,” Sven Spichiger, pest program manager, wrote in the announcement. “We’re at a critical juncture in this fight. If property owners don’t allow treatment, the beetle will establish here permanently, resulting in expensive quarantines and trade restrictions for our farmers and an endless battle with beetle infestations for homeowners.” 

There are several ways property owners in the treatment areas can give permission to have their properties treated: 

• Provide consent online using the PIN included in the mailed letter. 

• Scan and email completed forms to [email protected]. 

• Drop off consent forms at local city halls. 

• Mail the consent forms to WSDA using the return envelope included with the letter. 

For those property owners who provide consent, a contracted and licensed pesticide applicator will apply Acelepryn®, a reduced-risk insecticide according to the Washington State Department of Health, to their yards early this spring. 

The treatment area includes a significant expansion in the Pasco area where over 400 beetles were trapped last year after catching just five beetles in 2023, according to the announcement. The department also saw an overall uptick in beetle catches last year, trapping a record 26,700 beetles in the three counties. 

Japanese beetle was first detected in the Grandview area in 2020 when just three beetles were found, the WSDA wrote. The next year, over 24,000 beetles were trapped in the area. The number of trapped beetles has fluctuated over the years, but the beetles have been spreading. Beetles have been trapped in Grandview, Sunnyside, Outlook, Mabton, Prosser, Wapato, Pasco and Kennewick. 

“We’ve shown with the northern giant hornets that eradicating introductions of invasive species is possible. But we need the community to come together and get their yards treated if we hope to stand a chance of eradicating this beetle,” Spichiger wrote in the announcement.