EAB news and info

[DadF]

Guy,
The EAB has really sprung up quick and wasn't identified until it had big toe in the door. If I remember right there has been some attempts to research natural pests/predators from the country of origin(China) but alas politics have gotten in the way. I think China is still stung from some of the export inspections we imposed after the long horned beetle made it's debut and is still balking at letting "researchers" in.

[Dan F]

While looking through the conference packet for the upcoming INLA Professional Landscape and Nursery Trade Show (PLANTS), I noticed mention of a new website through Purdue related to EAB. A quick search turned up this up and I wanted to pass it along:

http://www.entm.purdue.edu/Emerald_Ash_Borer/index.htm

I haven't had time to go through the entire site yet, but I'm sure it's a good site....


Dan

[Dan F]

Not sure where this paper is out of exactly...
----------------------------------
Emerald ash borer discovered in SJ Twp.

By MICHAEL ELIASOHN / H-P Staff Writer

ST. JOSEPH -- State crews were to start checking today to see if the emerald ash borer has spread from where four trees infested by the insect were found in St. Joseph Township.

Emerald ash borers, now in their larval stage, are wood-boring beetles that kill ash trees.
They have killed almost 6 million trees so far in southeastern Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

Mike Hansen, supervisor of the MDA regional office in Scottdale, said he found the four infested trees at Chili's restaurant on Hilltop Road.

He said the trees were from a nursery in southeastern Michigan and planted by an out-of-town landscaper before the restaurant opened in October 2000.

"These trees were moved in prior to identifying emerald ash borer was even a problem in the United States," Hansen said.

He said it wasn't until June 2002 that it was discovered that emerald ash borers were the reason ash trees were dying in southeastern Michigan.

Hansen, a forester, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked him to check trees that came from the nursery where emerald ash borer was found. He discovered the infested trees Nov. 26, and some nearby infested ash trees have been discovered since then.

Larvae were removed from the trees by a USDA/MDA team and sent first to a USDA lab, then to a Michigan State University entomologist for positive identification.

At this time of year, according to the MDA Web site, identification comes from D-shaped holes made by the borers when they emerge, by vertical splits in the bark, and by S-shaped tunnels under the bark.

The beetles emerge from mid-May through late July and make a hole less than a quarter-inch in diameter, Hansen said.

Hansen said three MDA survey teams will check all ash trees within a half-mile of Chili's to see if the infestation has spread.

He expects the work will take two or three days.

If they find evidence of the borers in additional trees, then they will check the ash trees within a half-mile radius of those trees.

"We believe emerald ash borer adults will fly up to a half-mile in a year," Hansen said. If no additional infested trees are found within that distance from Chili's, "the likelihood they went beyond a half mile is very low."

Rocque Emlong of Emlong Inc. in Benton Harbor, which does commercial and residential landscape consulting and planting, said ash trees in this area "aren't uncommon," but maples are more popular.

He said the local discovery of emerald ash borers may put a damper on planting ash trees. "If this hadn't come up, I would plant ash," he said.

MDA spokeswoman Sara Linsmeier-Wurfel said the insect hasn't been found elsewhere in Berrien County or in Allegan, Cass or Van Buren counties.

The 13 counties under quarantine because of emerald ash borer form the southeastern corner of the Lower Peninsula, with Shiawassee County at the northwest corner of the quarantined area.

The quarantine means ash trees, branches, firewood and wood chips larger than 1 inch in diameter cannot be removed from those counties.

Hanson said once all the ash trees within a half-mile of the infested trees are mapped, they will be scheduled for removal before the adult borers emerge starting in mid-May.

Once they emerge, they eat leaves and lay as many as 60-90 eggs over their two-to-three-week life span, according to the Michigan State University Extension Web site.

The larvae hatch in 7-10 days, burrow through the bark and then tunnel back and forth in the wood, which eventually kills the tree by destroying its water- and nutrient-conducting vessels.

The larvae continue to feed into fall, then change into adult beetles starting in late April of the following year, repeating the cycle.

Hanson said since the life cycle takes a year, infested trees won't show damage the first year.

Therefore, to ensure that all emerald ash borer infestation is removed, all ash trees within a half-mile of where infested trees are found have to be removed.

The wood will be ground up and burned in a power plant that burns wood chips to generate electricity.

Hansen said the MDA will hold meetings for affected tree owners and local officials to explain the tree removal process. "At this point, it's best to be patient," he advised.

The state is seeking $42 million from the USDA to pay for removing the ash trees and related expenses.

Copyright © 2004 The Herald-Palladium

[Dan F]

The axe hangs over ash trees

Ottawa is to award contracts in a bid to halt the spread of the deadly ash borer.

DEBORA VAN BRENK, Free Press Regional Reporter 2004-01-20 04:14:34

The axeman cometh as soon as next week for 63,705 healthy ash trees in west Chatham-Kent. In a bid to stop the march eastward of the deadly emerald ash borer, federal officials are poised to award wood-cutting contracts for 40 tracts in a 300-square-kilometre area.

"The earliest the trees could start falling would be the 26th of
January," said Ken Marchant, emerald ash borer expert with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Foresters interested in the job were invited to bid on any or all of 40 rural and urban wooded patches within the ash-free zone, he said.

They also were bidding on six "active suppression zones" in east Essex County, where infested trees have been found.

The CFIA is leading the drive to create an ash-free zone, a $10-million project to keep the insect from leaving deep Southwestern Ontario.

As miserable as the weather may be, it's ideal for cutting trees, he
said. "It's best that it's frozen solid to minimize the risk."

The contracts stipulate the job must be done by March 31, before
dormant beetles become active.

The ash borers burrow beneath the bark of ash trees and kill them by sucking out nutrients.

The beetle has destroyed about 200,000 trees in Essex and millions more in Michigan. It also has been found in small pockets of Chatham-Kent.

Creating an ash-free zone east of the infested area will create a
"firewall" the insect can't hop, officials hope.

But the healthy trees aren't going down in Chatham-Kent without a fight by landowners, who say the zone is arbitrary and probably a waste of time and money.

Bev Phelps, whose property near Merlin will lose 1,544 trees, said she hopes the feds will change their minds. "We're going to try to fight to the bitter end if we can."

A potential bidder was on the family's property yesterday to assess the cost to remove the Phelps's trees.

Phelps is convinced the ash borer will advance into the rest of the
region with or without an ash-free zone. "I think they're just wasting their money. They should be getting rid of the bug instead of cutting down all these trees."

Residents had sought federal money to compensate for the loss of their trees. Ash is a popular shade tree and is used commercially in furniture-making and flooring.

Marchant said "there's no chance of that" compensation because, if left open to attack from the borer, the trees would die soon anyhow and lose their commercial value.

Most of the wood will be chipped on site but landowners are allowed to swing their own deal -- with the permission of CFIA inspectors and forester co-operation -- to arrange that their trees be cut down and squared.

Once the bark is removed to a depth of 2.5 centimetres, the restriction against moving the lumber is lifted, Marchant said. The trimmed logs may then be sold to a lumber mill.

If the homeowner doesn't want the wood chips, which will by then be too small to support the ash borer, they'll be used as fuel pellets or as greenhouse mulch or compost.

Marchant said every ash tree in the zone has been counted and precisely mapped by satellite.

He's seen foresters cut, chip and remove thousands of trees in a single day, so the March 31 deadline shouldn't be difficult to meet, Marchant said. "It's not a big, herculean task as you would think," he said.

ASH BORER FACTS

- The emerald ash borer, found two summers ago in Michigan, Windsor and parts of nearby Essex County, attacks all species of ash except mountain ash.

- Named for its bright green colour, the beetle lays its eggs on the
bark or in crevices of trees and larvae tunnel under the bark and feed on the nutrients, eventually killing the tree.

Copyright (c) The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003

[tony marks]

with the kinda money u guyts talkin .. either an natural enemy or some way to make it kill its own self is what ill hope for..
just an observer but i docarry pesticide license.. my sympathies are with those affected

[Dan F]

This was a message passed on by a forester at a state nursery, so it's geared towards Indiana folks, but still thought I'd pass it along.


Dan
---------------------
Subject: Follow up to EAB in St. Joseph, MI


Everyone,

You can find some additional information on the Michigan Dept. Ag.
Emerald
Ash Borer webpage. The newsrelease is listed on the webpage (look
under
news release). Go to http://www.michigan.gov/mda/ and select Emerald
Ash
Borer.

You will also see that MDA has started the process to declare EAB a
public
nuisance and have public meetings scheduled from now until the end of
the
month on this declaration. Once EAB is declared a public nuisance, MDA
has
the proper authority to take action against EAB.

The location of EAB in St. Joseph, MI is 22 miles due north of the
state
line. This location is closer to Indiana than the other locations near
Tipton, MI which is 40 miles NE of the NE corner of Indiana.

Hicksville, OH is the closest problem. The Winchester, IN site is not
considered an infestation at this time because live life stages and
additional infested trees have not been detected.

The best way to help detect and manage EAB in Indiana is the use of
your
eyes while you shop and eat. It appears that new restaurents, strip
malls,
and retail business such as Home Depot, Lowe, Wall Mart etc. use ash
trees
to landscape. This has helped to spread EAB in Michigan and to Ohio
and
Maryland. So, check the trees for the D shaped exit hole. Remember
the
ash
borer creates an oval hole that you may think is EAB. So look
carefully.

[Dan F]

Jan. 13, 2004. 01:00 AM <http://www.thestar.com/images/star/nav/spacer_487.gif>



Anti-beetle chainsaws go into high gear
Crews added to cut up to 10,000 trees

Forest pest set to re-emerge in late May

FRANK CALLEJA
STAFF REPORTER

The hunt to dig out the destructive Asian long-horned beetle is being stepped up to 10 teams, as crews continue to cut trees in the hot zone on the Toronto-Vaughan border before adult beetles emerge in late May.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is leading the seek-and-destroy mission. Spokesperson Howard Stanley said yesterday that four three-member crews are being added to the force that's cutting down potential larvae host trees.

"We've got a time restriction, so we've increased the number of crews," Stanley explained.

More than 800 trees have been removed in the 6-square-kilometre core area and secondary areas on the Vaughan-Toronto boundary. The total is expected to rise to 10,000 trees before operations move to four satellite areas later in the winter.

The core infestation area is roughly diamond-shaped, with Highway 407 to the north, Fenmar Dr. and Signet Dr. to the south, Islington and Steeles Aves. to the west and Steeles Ave. and Jane St. to the east.

Survey teams are hard at work identifying potential host trees and tagging them for removal, with trees being cut at the rate of 50 a day. The extra crews will double that rate.

Targeted species include all birches, maples and willows, plus elm, hackberry, horse chestnut, mountain ash, poplar, sycamore and the less-common silk tree (Albizia).

Nearly 200 hectares of urban forest have been surveyed for evidence of the beetle, which is 2 to 3.5 centimetres long, with distinctive long black-and-white antennae, bluish legs and white spots on a shiny black back.

"We've had instances of folks trying to haul away cut trees in the core infestation area, and we're asking the public to help us by not removing trees and calling us if they suspect infestation," Stanley said. "Public co-operation in this huge operation is vital if we want to protect our forests from this threat."

Yesterday, a crew removed several willows from the Toronto Star's Vaughan production plant in the Highway 407-Weston Rd. area, which is in a secondary zone 400 metres east of the core infestation area.

Information on the beetle and efforts to eradicate it is available on the agency's Web site at http://www.inspection.gc.ca.

[Dan F]

Nearly 200 ash trees to be destroyed to blunt beetle's spread

January 26, 2004, 5:48 PM

VIENNA, Va. (AP) -- Fairfax County and federal officials plan to destroy nearly 200 ash trees to prevent the spread of a beetle that has killed millions of trees in the Midwest.

Sixteen trees infested with the emerald ash borer were planted at the new Colvin Run Elementary school in Vienna. Those trees already have been incinerated.

Forestry experts who examined the trees found exit holes in the bark, a strong indication that adult beetles capable of reproducing escaped the immediate area.

A survey by forestry officials found 190 ash trees, including 30 privately owned trees, within a half-mile radius of the school. All will be destroyed.

Troy Shaw, coordinator of the forest pest program for Fairfax County, said he believes the infestation at the school is the first report of the beetle's presence in Virginia.

Ash trees constitute about 4 percent of Fairfax County's tree population and are popular with homeowners as ornamental trees.

The borer had previously been confined to Michigan and Ohio, but a nursery owner in southern Michigan last year violated a quarantine and shipped more than 100 trees to an unwitting nursery in Prince George's County, Md.

Sue DuPont, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Agriculture, said the state is continuing its survey and eradication efforts.

Larvae of the tree-killing beetle live beneath the bark of ash trees, boring into its tissue until water and nutrients can no longer flow up into the branches and leaves. The first ash borers in Michigan were discovered in May 2002.

The bright green beetle, perhaps a third of an inch in length at adult stage, is native to Asia.

[Dan F]

For those interested in curent EAB research the following website link
is
appropriate:

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/Research.cfm

The below are titles of research listed on the above link:

Control of Emerald Ash Borer Adults and Larvae with Insecticides

Dispersal of Emerald Ash Borer: A Case Study at Tipton, Michigan

Emerald Ash Borer Adult Dispersal

Emerald Ash Borer Survival in Firewood

Evaluation of Perma Guard D-20 and Imidacloprid to Control Emerald Ash
Borer

Exploration for Emerald Ash Borer in China

Genetic Analysis of Emerald Ash Borer

Host Range of Emerald Ash Borer

Host Range and Host Preference of Emerald Ash Borer

Improving Survey Methodology for Emerald Ash Borer

Survival of Emerald Ash Borer in Chips


In General www.emeraldashborer.info
is a good site for basic info.

[Guy Meilleur]

The Readers' Forum in Jan TCI magazine has a letter form an arborist who raises issues with eradication of all ash trees in certain areas. It reminds me of the citrus scare in FLA, where healthy trees on private property were removed.

There was an important industry to protect w citrus, but not ash. The writer is correct in stating that treatment and control is the way to go, and the govt's assertion of eminent domain in the ash case is excessive. The reaction is like that of a forester in response to a forest fire; wholly inappropriate--one more way the arb industry is dragged down by forestry thinking.

[Dan F]

While I see your point, I would tend to argue that there is an industry based on ash. There is a huge industry in Louisville, KY, for instance, as major league baseball relies heavily on ash! There is also a lot of wood flooring made from ash too...

The problem as I can see it is no one is for sure what control measures will work, short of total eradication. As far spread as this beetle is, removal of all infected trees is the only route I think should happen at this point. However, I would leave the door open for treatment of uninfected trees in the future once the bug is more under control than it currently is. The problem is new enough (to the US and Canada, anyway), that we are unsure what chemicals such as Merit will do to the beetle. The beetle was thoroughly researched back in the 1960's in China, but then, wouldn't you know it, they decided to have the Cultural Revolution and all that info was lost! The man that did the research is now very elderly, and we all know how memory fades.

So, for now, I agree with the eradication plan as it stands. Am I happy about the number of trees being lost? Absolutely not. Do I see any other alternative? I'm not smart enough on the subject to say yes. The ALB is nearly wiped out in Chicago, and could be in New York, by a similar plan, so why won't this current plan for the EAB work too? It may be a little more difficult than the plan for the ALB, due to increased distance capabilities of the EAB, but I'd much rather lose a couple of million trees versus ALL of them!

BTW, I haven't seen the TCI article in question, so I can't comment directly on that........

However, Guy, can you elaborate a little more on this statement?

The reaction is like that of a forester in response to a forest fire

I guess I'm not familiar with what you are referring to here. I've been around wildland firefighters on many occasions, I've even been red-carded myself (though I've never been involved with a large scale suppression effort), and I don't understand what you mean by this....

Dan

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Dan F
I don't understand what you mean by this....

What I mean is that pest control can be a comprehensive, IPM/PHC approach or a scorched-earth approach a la foresters fighting fires. Folks close to EAB in MI observe that the Marshall's Seedless are dropping in a hurry, while natives show some resistance. So how can it be right to whack all the natives, given the paucity of info on this pest?

I'm not qualified to comment in detail, but the letter-writer to TCI mag sounds like he is. When you read that write back. Meantime, know that my vantage point is that of a 3-time govt employee who's learned not to trust the govt. NO offense meant to U folks; some of my best friends...

[Dan F]

I don't get TCI (yet, I need to sign up for it), so do you have a link, or can you scan it and post it here for all to read?


Dan

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The EAB can not be contained. It's very likely already here in Wisconsin, as well as other places.

Treatment will be similar to DED, chemical treatments to high value trees (Bidrin, Imidicloprid), and remove others as they die.

Areas where the insect moves in are overcome with a secondary pest, Startupus Treeserviceii. This disease is easily idetified by the presence of rusty 1/2 ton pickup trucks and workers with no safety gear or insurance.

Inventory your forests and make sure you do not have heavy Ash populations. If so, take corrective actions now, don't wait for complete devistation.

Do not plant Ash trees!

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Mike Maas
The EAB can not be contained.
So Mike do you think the eradication effort will not work, and the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ designated to it go to other means of control instead of to Startupus treeserviceii?
Do not plant Ash trees!

I have ~100 in my nursery and live in NC. Do you mean me?
Does anyone know about resistance?