May 18-24 is Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week
May 16, 2014
MADISON – At least 20 Wisconsin
counties now harbor emerald ash borer, the exotic insect that has decimated
urban trees and forests in the eastern half of the nation.
Although we continue to detect EAB
in new locations around the state, humans can help keep it from leapfrogging to
whole new areas. They can slow down the spread, to give science time to find
more and better controls, and give communities and landowners time to replace
ash trees with species that are not susceptible to the pest.
To remind Wisconsinites that they
have a role to play in the battle, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has
declared May 18-24 Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week. This particular week was chosen nationwide
because it includes Memorial Day weekend, the beginning of the summer tourism
season, when the risk is high for people to move EAB and other pests to new
areas inadvertently on firewood.
Brian Kuhn, director of the Plant
Industry Bureau in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection, notes that Wisconsin’s forests include more than 765 million ash
trees, and that an average of 20 percent of urban street trees in the state are
ash. Losing those trees to EAB may impact air and water quality, wildlife habitat,
recreational opportunities, and property values, he said.
“Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week is
an opportunity for the government to join with schools, businesses, industries,
environmental groups, community organizations, tourist and citizens to take
action against the spread of the EAB,” Kuhn said.
In the past year, EAB has been found
in seven new Wisconsin counties. Most of those new finds can likely be
attributed to human actions, because they are in areas far from previous known
infestations in southeastern and western Wisconsin. Some of them were at
campgrounds or boat landings.
This summer, state and federal
agencies will set more than 1,500 traps around Wisconsin to monitor for the
presence of the EAB.
People can help slow the spread of
- Following all quarantine guidelines. For most
people, that means not moving firewood out of the quarantine counties.
- Buying firewood near camp sites or buying it
from a state-certified firewood vendor. Check the list of vendors.
- Learning about the signs of EAB infestation.
- Reporting ash trees that show signs of
infestation by calling the EAB hotline toll-free at 1-800-462-2803 or emailing DATCPemeraldashborer@wi.gov.
Since 2008, EAB infestations have been confirmed in Brown, Crawford, Dane, Dodge,
Douglas, Fond du Lac, Jefferson, Kenosha, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Ozaukee,
Racine, Rock, Sauk, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha and
Winnebago counties. Those counties are under quarantine. Sheboygan
County is also quarantined, because there are infestations close by in
neighboring counties. The quarantine means that hardwood cannot be moved out of
the counties without an agreement with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and
EAB, native to Asia, attacks all
species of North American ash trees. Since being discovered near Detroit in
2002, it has spread to 21 states and two Canadian provinces.
Wisconsin's EAB program is a
cooperative effort of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Department
of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA-Forest Service,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, and UW-Extension.