At the same time, it was clear that if another, and still heavier, looper infestation occurred as In fact, it was a case of getting the timber to the mills within two years or losing it. This called for quick action, since deterioration sets in fast in the coastal fog belt. The immediate problem was to salvage the timber already killed. Outright timber kill was set at 40 million feet, with much more partially defoliated.
From all information gathered it was reckoned that 12,000 acres were infested in some degree, with 2500 acres heavily infested. Reconnaissance flights covered all suspected areas. During October and November, Crown Zellerbach foresters cruised 12,000 acres. Some of the partially defoliated trees stood a chance to recover, the fully stripped trees were through. Thousands of conifers had been stripped clean, others partially.
When the last of the moths had given up the ghost along about mid October, creeks and rivers were brown with them, tree trunks were plastered, and pot holes in the roadways were thick with their dead bodies. A bumper crop was indicated. In this stage eggs are laid for next year's generation. By early fall the insects, true to form, went into the moth stage, and before long there was a veritable blizzard of moths buzzing over the area, even in the streets of Seaside.
It was the beginning of a serious outbreak, and control was clearly a job for 1945. But there was no chance to stop them in 1944. They were there in a multitude, all right the caterpillars.
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