Governor Proclaims Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week In Pennsylvania

Gov. Rendell has proclaimed May 17-23 as "Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania to help draw attention to the devastating, non-native invasive beetle that has been killing trees in six Pennsylvania counties during the past two years.

 

The Governor urged the public to help contain the beetle's spread to protect trees and also the jobs associated with Pennsylvania's $25 billion forest products industry.

 

"The Emerald ash borer has already killed tens of millions of ash trees nationwide and its arrival in Pennsylvania could have a damaging affect on our hardwoods industry," said Gov. Rendell. "Pennsylvania has been proactive in controlling its spread by enacting a firewood quarantine for counties found to have infestations and completing in-depth surveys to determine the extent of the infestations.

 

"By designating Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week, we are reminding citizens of the potentially severe impacts this beetle could have on our environment and economy so they can take steps to help stop its spread."

 

Firewood is the primary means of long distance movement for emerald ash borer and other invasive forest pests so this camping season, people are reminded to use only locally cut sources of firewood and to burn it completely on site. To help protect Pennsylvania's forests and urban trees, "burn it where you buy it."

 

The beetle was first detected in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2007 in Butler County and has since been found in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Mercer and Mifflin counties. State and federal quarantines in six counties restrict the movement from the quarantine area of ash nursery stock, green lumber and any other ash material, including logs, stumps, roots and branches, and all wood chips.

 

"This summer, Department of Agriculture survey crews will assess the infestation across the state," said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. "If and when new infestations are detected, quarantines will be put into place to help prevent further spread in ash materials, such as lumber and nursery stock."

Emerald ash borer is a wood-boring beetle native to China and eastern Asia. The pest likely arrived in North America hidden in wood packing materials commonly used to ship goods.

 

It was first detected in July 2002 in southeastern Michigan and neighboring Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The beetle has since been blamed for the death and decline of more than 40 million ash trees in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Wisconsin.

 

Typically, the beetles will kill an ash tree within three years of the initial infestation. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly only from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees. When they emerge as adults, they leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.

 

There is no known practical control for this wood-boring pest other than destroying infested trees.

People who suspect they have seen Emerald ash borer should call the Department of Agriculture's toll-free pest hotline at 1-866-253-7189.

 

For more information about the quarantine, contact Walt Blosser at 717-772-5205, and for more information about Emerald ash borer, contact Sven-Erik Spichiger at 717-772-5229.

 

Visit the Department of Agriculture's emerald ash borer webpage for more information.