UC Agriculture and Natural Resources made several appearances in the media yesterday. Separate news outlets

• Reported more sightings of European grapevine moth in wine country
• Charted expanding acreage of olives for oil
• Offered blustery vitriol about changes being implemented by ANR to deal with the economic downturn

According to yesterday's Weekly Calistogan, the number of adult European grapevine moths found in Napa County has risen to eight since they were first spotted last month. Agricultural officials have found 29 larval specimens as well.

Reporter Mike Treleven got a description of the pest from UC Cooperative Extension integrated pest management advisor Lucia Varela. She said the moth is about a quarter-inch long and the female is always slightly larger than the male. European grapevine moths' markings are brown, tannish and black; they prefer temperatures in the mid-80s and nighttime temperatures in the low 50s. More details on the moth from the UC IPM program.

Capital Press devoted column-inches to a oil-olive planting boom, which it said is fueled by skyrocketing demand for olive oil among health-conscious consumers, the ability to use lower-cost mechanical harvesting methods and the fact that the trees require less water than other crops.

One of reporter Tim Hearden's expert sources was UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Bill Kreuger. Even as the table olive industry has struggled, Kreuger said, the acreage of the fruit grown for oil has increased dramatically.

The Berkeley Daily Planet published a reader's commentary by Gray Brechin criticizing ANR vice president Dan Dooley's decision to close the University’s Center for Water Resources and find a new home for the Water Resources Archives in order to save money.

The essay, titled "Vivisecting the University of California," opens with a distasteful analogy involving a cancer patient's dabbing at an open wound when speaking amiably about other topics.

"I wondered how he could so blithely ignore what was obvious to everyone else. I wonder the same about the UC administrators and regents," Brechin wrote.