Invasive Species of Eastern USA Blog

Invasive species threaten Wisconsin trees 

By Sarah Eucalano
The Badger Herald

Madison has begun testing trees for emerald ash borers, an invasive Chinese insect that has been devastating much of North America’s ash trees.

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said around 25 percent of Madison’s trees are ash trees, adding it will cost the city millions in order to fully cover the incurable disease, which causes ash trees to slowly rot and die. ...

Ken Raffa, a UW etymology professor, said the main emerald ash borer infestation is in Detroit and has been in the United States for 12 years. Having infested the southeastern part of Wisconsin, including parts of the Milwaukee area as well as areas surrounding the Mississippi River.

Raffa said in China the insects do not kill healthy trees, but only sick or old trees that do not have defenses. He said China’s ash trees have good defenses against emerald ash borers, which North American ash trees do not have. “There is no evidence any of the ash trees in the eastern half of the United States having any resistance,” Raffa said. ...

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Massachusetts Officials Announce Quarantine to Halt Spread of Emerald Ash Borer

DALTON, MA – Thursday, February 21, 2013 – Officials from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced today that a quarantine will be established in Berkshire County, in order to stop the spread of the invasive insect species Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). This decision comes after extensive survey in the affected area and public hearings.

The quarantine will take effect March 1, 2013.

EAB was first detected in Massachusetts in Dalton in August of 2012. Massachusetts is the eighteenth state discovered to have EAB within its borders. ...

The quarantine order means that certain products will be regulated from moving outside the regulated area, including all hardwood firewood (any piece of wood smaller than 48”), all ash nursery stock, and any ash lumber that has not been treated. Proper wood treatments include the removal of bark and half an inch of wood, dry kiln sterilization, fumigation, and heat treatments.

The State of New York recently added 22 new counties to their EAB quarantine, including counties that abut the Berkshire County border. This will allow wood to move from quarantined county to quarantined county, including moving regulated wood from Massachusetts to the mills that are just over the border in New York, relieving some of the financial pressure on the wood industry in Berkshire County.

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