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EMERALD ASH BORER HAS STATE ON EDGE
Friday, June 16th, 2006 -- 11:03 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
 It’s only about a half-inch long, but Wisconsin experts fear the Emerald Ash Borer could become the most significant tree problem in Wisconsin since Dutch Elm Disease.
Already known to be in the Upper Peninsula, the metallic green pest was recently confirmed in Illinois.
“A lot of people think it’s just a matter of time – it’s inevitable – before it gets here,” says Rick Dailey, a forestry assistant with the Clark County Forestry and Parks Department.
Ash isn’t too common in the County forestland, but is more prevalent on private property; an estimated one-third of all street trees in Wisconsin communities are ash varieties.
It’s appearance in the region is troublesome because native Ash trees have no way to defend themselves against the exotic pest, and it’s nearly impossible to do a thorough job of protecting entire trees with insecticides, Dailey says.
“The larvae stage causes the damage. The larvae bores into the tree and cuts the connective tissue that feeds the roots of the tree and kills it,” Dailey says.
State officials announced Thursday they plan to cut down all ash trees within a half-mile of an infestation, then grind them into chips and burn them.
Diseases are often spread by the importation of firewood. The state has outlawed non-Wisconsin firewood from state parks, but that only accounts for about seven-percent of campsites in Wisconsin, Dailey says.
The state is encouraging people to be on the lookout for the pest.
The first symptoms of Ash Borer infestation include the upper third of a tree dying, a large number of shoots or sprouts arising below the dead portions of the trunk and “d”-shaped exit holes in the bark.
You can report possible infestation by calling the Wisconsin Pest Hotline ... at 1-800-462-2803.
On the Web:
State of Michigan: EAB Symptoms
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