Emerald Ash Borer found in Wis.
Emerald ash borers, which have killed ash trees by the millions in other states, have been identified for the first time in Wisconsin, state officials announced today.
The infestation of the ash-killing beetles was found in a private woodlot near the village of Newburg in Ozaukee County. State officials said they do not know the extent of the infestation.
The state's first step will be to ban the movement of hardwood firewood, ash nursery stock, timber or any other article that could spread the beetles out of the infested area, according to a state news release. The site is near Washington County, and it's likely both counties will be quarantined.
The next step is to survey of the area to determine the size of the infestation and the possible source, officials said.
"Finding EAB at this location does not mean it is the origin of the infestation in Wisconsin," according to the news release.
Wisconsin is home to more than 700 million ash trees, which are common in both urban and rural settings.
Emerald Ash borer's home is in Asia. It is believed to have come to the United States in shipping materials. It was first identified in the Detroit area in 2002. Native North American ashes appear to have little or no natural immunity to the beetles, known by the acronym EAB.
The closest EAB infestation to Rock and Walworth counties may still be the one in Illinois' Kane County, about 40 miles south of the state line.
Scientists believe common ways the beetles have spread is in firewood transported by campers and in nursery stock. The beetles' larvae, which do the damage that kills the trees, can live under the bark of felled trees.
For more information, see http://emeraldashborer.wi.gov
Aug 4, 2008 at 8:34 p.m.
Suggest removal
So many people don't follow the rules about firewood when they go camping. There's probably a pretty good chance someone brought it with firewood. How hard is it to listen to those simple rules???
Aug 4, 2008 at 5:33 p.m.
Suggest removal
That's not encouraging. Ozaukee is about as far by land as you can get in Wisconsin from any other state. The expected place to find it would be near a border with an infested state, either Michigan or Illinois.
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hannah, you are correct about Bayer. There is also a new product (2007) called "Tree-age" (pronounced like the medical term triage). There are products such as Merit available to professionals. But neither product is advised for just applying to any tree outside a quarantine zone. This is an area of active research. If you have ash trees to protect the best advice is to keep up with the Wisconsin site above or the multi-state effort here:
http://www.emeraldashborer.info/
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