Japanese beetle discovered in La Grande. ODA Seeking volunteers to host pest traps

By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 in Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories

LA GRANDE – The Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Office and the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) are seeking local volunteers to help contain a potentially disastrous pest. According to information recently posted by the Extension Office’s Union County Master Gardners Program, a single Japanese beetle was discovered in La Grande in 2025, the first ever in Eastern Oregon.

The bugs can be a destructive pest for over 300 edible & ornamental plant species. Currently, the Oregon Department of Agriculture is planning to conduct an expanded survey this year to check for more examples of the beetle. As part of this, local volunteers are needed to host bug traps, with the ODA having a goal of around 500 traps set for 2026.

These traps will help the ODA gauge the size of the local beetle population and may even help reduce numbers. The traps themselves, as written by the ODA, “are small, green, plastic units about 12 inches tall. They sit on a short metal stake about a foot off the ground.”

The ODA clarifies that only property owners that volunteer/consent will have traps placed on their property in the affected areas, though some may be placed in public right of ways as well. Traps will be placed this spring and removed later in the summer.

Any La Grande and Island City residents interested in participating can sign up at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/cd92cd20ee8d4afc8a7f3902651fa38b.

(Flyer originally posted by Union County Master Gardeners – Oregon)