I agree, though there are a few states that are sure competing for the title (NJ, IL, NY). I do think protection of the California citrus industry is very important. Most pests freeze to death in CO so it's not as much of an issue.

Harvey, I agree concerning the protection of the California citrus industry. But when budwood comes from the CCPP, supposedly among the most safe place to obtain clean budwood, isn't it a bit much for the commissioners to ask for yet another inspection? -Millet (419-)

Millet, I've thought about this some more and am pretty sure that the ag commissioners are following procedures set forth by the USDA which dictates regulations dealing with various quarantines, etc.

Sudden Oak Death was found to infect sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) when it was inoculated in a UK lab. Since I grow chestnut trees for sale I get inspected by Ag Commissioner staff who are following USDA instructions. They relied entirely on me to tell them what species of trees I had. Most are hybrids and some contain some sativa and others are probably pure sativa. They were required to take 40 samples from my property of the chestnuts as well as other potential hosts. After they left my worker found one of their samples when he was mowing. I'm sure they must have split one of the samples when they discovered they were missing a sample. I never heard back from them this time nor last year after they did their inspection. I'm also in a quarantine area for Light Brown Apple Moth so they Ag Commissioner staff set a monitoring trap on my property as required by the USDA. The closest find is about 10 miles away downwind but they've got to following instructions and set and monitor the traps. Fortunately, I don't pay (directly) for any of this. Unfortunately, the USDA requires these actions but their reimbursement rates are way below the cost of carrying out these actions. Government in action!