HOT SPRINGS - Grasshoppers have moved into and taken over areas of Fall River County, and according to officials who briefed the Fall River County Commission on July 7, the problem could be worse next year.

The commissioners adopted a disaster resolution for the grasshopper infestation after Amy Mesman of Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, county weed and pest supervisor Steve Smith and several area ranchers painted a dire picture if steps aren't taken to eradicate the insects.

Mesman told the commission that her group has been doing grasshopper counts in the area and that the numbers are escalating.

"When you have eight grasshoppers in a square yard, that is classified as a 'problem' level of investation," she said. "We have seen numbers in the 20- to 30-per-square-yard area. That's significant."

One area rancher said that he had counted more than 60 grasshoppers in an area on his land. "I got to 60 and then stopped counting," he said.

Mesman said that three different varieties of grasshoppers that are commonly found in rangeland areas are particularly damaging.

"A small hopper will consume 12 pounds of forage per month, per acre," she said. "Some of the larger ones are closer to 19 pounds."

Commissioner Anne Cassens asked what the county can do to help the situation.

"This year it's really almost too late to do much to stop them," Mesman said. "What we are really working on is getting things lined up and prepared for next year, then hit them hard."

APHIS will cover one-third of the cost of spraying on private land, half of the cost on state land and all the cost of federal Forest Service and grasslands, but the group must do the spraying, and the agency must ask them to do it.

"Right now, the Forest Service is saying that they don't have a grasshopper problem," Mesman said. "We are collecting data to show them that yes, they do have a problem."

Smith noted that spaying a small area for grasshoppers may help in the short term, but the insects will simply come back after a short time or will move to another area.