Canker compensation vouchers to expire soon

If they don't, they'll lose money. That's right, lose money.

The $100 vouchers Southwest Florida residents received this year to compensate them for citrus trees they lost to the state's canker eradication program are about to expire. The vouchers are redeemable at Wal-Mart for trees, plants, sod and other garden-related merchandise.

"It's about the size of a credit card," said Liz Compton, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, describing the voucher. "Residents who haven't used it probably have it in their wallet. So next time they are in Wal-Mart, they just need to get into the garden center and use it."

The vouchers mailed out this year are set to expire Dec. 31.

Across the state, residents have been slow to use up their Wal-Mart vouchers. There are about 4,000 residents in Broward County alone who have spent less than $30 of the $100 owed to them.

Locally, there are more than 50 peo ple in Collier County who have spent less than a third of the money on their vouchers.

In neighboring Lee County, nearly 650 people have spent less than $30 of the $100 coming to them.

Hundreds of people in Lee County received vouchers this year because of a severe outbreak of canker in Cape Coral, where thousands of trees have been destroyed in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease.

The state has begun an aggressive campaign against canker, a highly contagious bacterial disease that poses a threat to the state's $9 billion citrus in dustry. Any citrus trees that are infected, or are within 1,900 feet of an infected tree, are destroyed.

The state provides tree owners a $100 Wal-Mart voucher for the first tree destroyed and $55 for each additional tree lost to state canker crews.

The vouchers are meant to encourage residents to replace the greenery lost to the state's canker eradication program.

That's why purchases are limited in the garden center to trees, shrubs, grass and garden accessories.

"You can't buy porch furniture or grills in the garden center," Compton said. "Those don't qualify. That doesn't really do anything to enhance your yard."

Local residents who haven't yet received their vouchers for trees they lost this year should start to see them arrive in their mailboxes in January.

Any money that's not used up by residents who have received vouchers this year will go into next year's pot.