• Dimond, John B.
  University of Maine
  

The 103rd Legislature appropriated $10,000 under S.P. 582-L.D. 1546 for use by the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station in a study of undesirable effects resulting from applications of DDT to the forest for spruce budworm control. These funds were used to supplement investigations already under way on the persistence and movement of DDT with the passage of time after application. The direct, immediate effects of forest applications of DDT on wildlife are quite well known from earlier studies. These effects have been generally evaluated as tolerable except where applications are frequent or heavy. More recent research has suggested that there may be delayed, indirect or cumulative effects of a serious nature following even light applications of DDT. We are now able to provide a partial answer to the question of the fate of DDT after application to Maine forests. But there is not yet enough information to do more than speculate on the ultimate hazard to wildlife. Some details of the study, to which the $10,000 legislative grant has strongly contributed, are presented below, and the opinions of the writer are given on the significance of the hazards resulting from the use of DDT in Maine forests.