Rich Reiman of Eagle, Neb., knows what a plague grasshoppers can be.

Two summers ago, they swarmed his house along a golf course development, showing no regard for Reiman's position as director of division of plant industry at the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

"They were so thick, they were eating holes through our screen doors and getting into the house," Reiman said.

He has since replaced the nylon screens on his house with munch-resistant metal mesh screens. The move has kept insects out of his house, but not out of fields, ranches and pastures stretching across the West.

Nebraska and other drought-stricken Western states have been warning of a massive grasshopper infestation since last fall. The insects are more prevalent in dry years, and much of the West is in the midst of a multiyear drought.

"The theory is that grasshoppers are more prevalent during drought because you don't have as many parasites and insect diseases during hot, dry weather," said Jack Campbell, a University of Nebraska entomologist.

Another theory is that cool, wet weather in spring - when grasshoppers are hatching - makes the cold-blooded insects sluggish. They fail to feed and starve to death, Campbell said.

So far, there's little indication those kind of conditions will come to the region's rescue this spring. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor run by the University of Nebraska, most of the western United States - from southern California to western Wisconsin - is in some stage of drought. Many experts predict the drought - and, therefore, grasshoppers - will worsen through the growing season.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture map predicting grasshopper infestations for 2004 shows nearly all of western Nebraska expected to see a plague of at least 15 grasshoppers per square yard. The map also predicts such levels from central Texas into its panhandle and parts of Nevada, Montana, Oregon and South Dakota.

Jesse Aber, a water resources planner for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and staff member for the Governor's Drought Advisory Committee, said he's seen pictures from last summer that looked like illustrations of biblical locust stories, there were so many hoppers.

"They look like humming birds, they're so big," Aber said.

Considering the winter was mild and the spring has been warm, Aber expects the same is likely to happen this year.

"We didn't see a cold enough winter to knock the bugs down," Aber said. "And we're also hearing because the spring is not cool and damp that the outlook worsens as this warm spell goes on."

Last year, Aber said he got reports of producers in Glacier and Pondera Counties in northern Montana spraying three times and still not getting rid of the swarms.

Pesticides are the only effective way to control grasshoppers when they're prolific, Campbell said.

C.J. Mucklow, Extension Service director for Routt County, Colo., is predicting a more severe grasshopper problem this summer than the state has seen the last two years - and those years were no picnic.

"We had some areas that had as many as 360 grasshoppers in one square yard," Mucklow said. "Anything over 40 is considered severe."

The idea of even more grasshoppers this summer is likely to elicit groans from more than Colorado ranchers, he said.

"We had a real problem in town in Steamboat Springs last year," Mucklow said. "They were at the airport, on buildings. They were crawling all over everything. It was disgusting."

Another such year could keep tourists and other in-town consumers away from businesses, he said.

"They don't pose a public health problem," Mucklow said. "But they can have a real economic impact."

Dozens of species of grasshoppers cover the western states, with some more inclined to eat cropland and others that dine more on rangeland. Many western states face similar rangeland problems from another insect, the Mormon cricket.

Most of the states have access to a federal program that helps pay to treat rangeland to kill grasshoppers and crickets. The program, offered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Inspection Service, shares the cost of treating land with states and landowners. Rangeland must hold an average of eight of the insects per square yard to be eligible.

In Nebraska last year, ranchers, the state and federal government each covered a third of the cost of treatment of about 360,000 acres, which ran about $1.95 per acre, or a total of more than $700,000, Reiman said.

But rangeland owners probably will face higher costs as more demand for treatment, higher treatment costs and reduced state government funding for the plan converge this year, Reiman said.

"There could be as many as 2 million acres in Nebraska alone that may need to be treated this year," he said.

Most states will continue a moneysaving application method that treats alternating strips of land and is nearly as effective as blanket coverage, Reiman said.

However, the fiscally-strapped Nebraska state budget allowed only $127,000 for the treatment program this year - about half of last year's appropriation, he said. Rising fuel costs also are likely to drive up application expenses. Rangeland owners have from April 26 through May 14 to sign up for the program, Reiman said.

While some have suggested meting out treatment aid on a first-come, first-service basis, landowners likely will be asked to contribute more money per acre to participate in the program, he said.

"It's a big deal in these states," Reiman said. "When you've got that many grasshoppers, a drought and you've got cattle to graze, you have to consider that there's a competition for every blade of grass."