Roanoke, Craig and Giles counties likely will be added to Virginia's gypsy moth quarantine zone in September as the leaf-eating insect continues to spread across the state, officials said Wednesday.

Roanoke County and state officials plan to meet with homeowners at 9 a.m. today at the Bent Mountain Fire Station to discuss what can be done to slow the gypsy moth's spread on Bent and Poor mountains.

The quarantine program, which already affects most of Virginia, means timber, nursery plants, recreational vehicles and other items that may hide moth eggs have to be inspected before leaving the quarantine area.

A quarantine is generally a minor inconvenience to local businesses -- they handle their own inspections -- but a severe infestation can mean lost timber, unhealthy forests, increased wildfires, soil erosion and ruined views, said Larry Nichols, the Virginia Department of Agriculture's gypsy moth program coordinator.

Gypsy moths, a non-native insect that causes heavy defoliation and tree deaths, have infested tens of thousands of acres in Southwest Virginia in recent years.

In Roanoke County, gypsy moths have stripped trees on many parts of Bent and Poor mountains in the past year.

The moths, which are finishing their caterpillar stage now, squirm through the trees in great black masses, covering the forest floor in fecal pellets and nibbled leaf bits.

"We are looking out our windows ... and watching our trees die an agonizing death," e-mailed Kay Moore, who said more than 500 acres around her Bent Mountain home have been infested.

The U.S. Forest Service and state governments use a cooperative approach toward trying to slow the spread of the gypsy moth.

First, local governments count the moths' egg masses in the fall. Then the state decides whether to use aerial chemical spraying in the spring when the caterpillars, or larvae, are feeding.

Federal funds pay for half the spraying, and localities pay the rest. Aerial spraying can slow the spread of the moth but doesn't eradicate it.

Officials decide where to spray based on the amount of funding available and the moth and human populations in the infested areas. Urban, suburban and high recreation areas are sprayed first because they have more people and the moths are considered an unsightly nuisance.

Virginia has sprayed for gypsy moths nearly every year since the 1980s, peaking a few years ago when 60,000 acres were treated. Spraying wasn't done in 2004 and 2005 but resumed this spring when 2,500 acres were treated in Northern Virginia.

Some Roanoke County residents said county officials have not acted quickly enough to fight the moth.

"To me, it's like biblical proportions," said Mike Mills, who said thousands of acres of trees around his Poor Mountain house are dead or dying.

Roanoke County Administrator Elmer Hodge said the county surveyed its infested areas last year, but it wasn't bad enough to qualify for the state-federal spraying program. The Virginia Cooperative Extension in Roanoke and the Virginia Department of Agriculture conducted the survey.

Hodge said he would recommend another gypsy moth count be done this fall by one of the few private contractors in Virginia who does such surveys. He said he also would ask whether the state would accept county and private funds to pay for spraying if federal funds weren't available. Currently, the federal budget includes no funds for aerial spraying.

"I think we've done all we can at this point," Hodge said. "It's much worse this year, but we have to follow the state and federal process."

Frank Terry, whose extended family owns more than 3,000 acres on Bent Mountain, said countless trees on their property are dead or dying. He said they worry about the health of the forest, creeks and wildlife because of the infestation.

"I don't see how Roanoke County doesn't qualify" for the state-federal spraying program, he said.