 The budworm was first recorded in 1914 in the United States, in Oregon.However, it was not initially recognized as a serious threat to coniferous forests in the western U.S. Aerial spraying apparently terminated some smaller epidemics in the southern and central Rockies; others subsided naturally.The insect then appeared to be dormant in US forests until 1922, when two outbreaks were reported near Priest Lake in northern Idaho.