Emerald Ash Borer

[brushburner]

The first and second pictures are of the Black gum tree, the last two are of Ash trees. The pictures of the Ash trees didn't come out as I expected it. To the naked eye all the infected Ash trees stood out a yellowish color caused from bark being peeled compared to the other trees.

 

[tooold]

Now that we have one case of EAB in our area, our local tree and flower place is here to save the day! On the radio, they say they have a product that you mix with water in a pail, and then dump it on the ground under the tree. They said it will "save" a 2 foot dia tree with 75% canapy loss. With everything I have been reading online, it seems they are selling BS and I'm not talking the compost type.

 

[ATH]

They are probably selling imidacloprid. The prescription is probably not too far off...but saving a tree that is 75% gone is out of line. Maybe they meant still 75% alive (trying to give them the benefit of the doubt...call me naive)

 

[flashhole]

We're getting hit here in NY too. This is one of three trees in this tree line that fell victim to the bug. No recovery once they go so I am harvesting them for firewood. This tree was almost 3 cords. My fear is the nasty little shi+s will get the shade trees close to the house.

 

[flashhole]

This is how I pieced out the stump.

 

[Incomplete]

Yup. When all you got is the human mule...

 

[NOMOREGEARS]

I have about 10-12 acres of young Ash that are 3"-10" in dia. They don't seem to get much bigger than 16" here. The ones that die periodically are cut for firewood. We have the 50 mile rule for firewood here in NY but I see logging trucks on the interstates (I88, I90 & I87) hauling logs that look like Ash to me. Many going north of the border (Ontario plates). It is inevitable that the EAB will spread if the quarantine isn't imposed 100%.

 

[ATH]

.....It is inevitable that the EAB will spread if the quarantine isn't imposed 100%.

Anything you said after "if" does not matter...you were accurate up to that point.

You can't quarantine to contain EAB. The more recently infected states should learn from Ontario, Ohio, Michigan, WV, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, etc, etc... Don't waste money chasing a quarantine. Find the nearest known infestation. Now go out 30 miles and you might be close to the edge of that infestation. How are you going to keep an area that large from spreading? Then there are dozens upon dozens of unknown infestations that will spread undetected for a couple of years and EAB will be 30 miles from those infection centers before it is found. Spend resources to prepare for what is to come.

 

[NOMOREGEARS]

Since I don't move firewood more than a few miles and my logs sometimes get sold to a local sawyer..the 50 mile rule doesn't bother me but I do know people who have been ticketed and they were small time firewood dealers. Typical NY to bang on the little guy and watch the logging trucks fly up and down the interstate.

 

[leeson]

You can't quarantine to contain EAB. The more recently infected states should learn from Ontario, Ohio, Michigan, WV, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, etc, etc... Don't waste money chasing a quarantine. Find the nearest known infestation. Now go out 30 miles and you might be close to the edge of that infestation. How are you going to keep an area that large from spreading? Then there are dozens upon dozens of unknown infestations that will spread undetected for a couple of years and EAB will be 30 miles from those infection centers before it is found. Spend resources to prepare for what is to come.

I'm with you. I think the idea of a quarantine is a bad joke. Doesn't seem to have so much as slowed it down a little bit. That's the State's plan here in Colorado as well. The smartest thing to do is stop planting ash. Actually, the mistake was made twenty years ago when everyone decided it would be a good idea to let 30% of our urban forest be from one Genus.

I was working in NYC back in 2007 to quarantine the Emerald Ash Borer. All the money spent, all the man-hours, all the trees culled preventively (a whole island was deforested because the beetle was found there) and none of it did a damn bit of good.

 

[PJM]

Since I don't move firewood more than a few miles and my logs sometimes get sold to a local sawyer..the 50 mile rule doesn't bother me but I do know people who have been ticketed and they were small time firewood dealers. Typical NY to bang on the little guy and watch the logging trucks fly up and down the interstate.

Sadly, most quarantines are not primarily interested in slowing the movement or spread of pests like EAB. They are done to facilitate commerce, and as you note, especially for the big guys who have the pull ($ to lobby). As you probably know, in NY the EAB quarantine is being expanded to accommodate just a couple of mills. Expect to see a more rapid spread and several new satellite infestations in the next couple of years.

 

[NOMOREGEARS]

I work in upstate and I'm on the road 100 days a year. I've seen the traps for the EAB in place near Utica for the past three years and most recently near the capital district. My forester friends, say that are already here (near Albany). I totally agree with you "money talks"... Adolf Cuomo does not care. If he can squeeze an ounce of taxes out of a transaction, he will, regardless of the repercussions. The fire wood dealer be damned..

 

[PJM]

In NY there are several satellite infestations already: Buffalo area, Lewiston, Randolf, Bath, Rochester area, a huge one in the Hudson Valley (Ulster & Green Counties) and new ones recently discovered in Bethlehem, just outside Albany and in West Point.

Just because you are seeing the purple prism traps does not mean that the bug is around. For a couple years NY was placing traps statewide on a square mile grid pattern. Highly inefficient and something that they have now moved away from and are now focusing on high risk sites (campgrounds, sawmills, nurseries) outside of the quarantine district. If I had any influence I would be surveying along major rail lines. My experience with the bug in WNY suggests that railroads may be a vector for moving the bug long distances.

 

[gobucks]

fantastic...but not enough in the populations we are seeing. In the long-term, that may be enough to give future generations of ash trees a fighting chance. If you haven't seen it yet, when you see how heavy these things feed on the cambium you will understand why even 26% of that will still kill trees.

Excellent point. Those little critters go bonkers in there. I've been wondering lately what's going to happen as more ash trees are removed. Even if you're getting 85-90% control with a product, you gotta think at some point the numbers of EAB looking for a living host could eventually overwhelm any control measures. Have you seen any research dealing with this?