 The tree-killing beetle was discovered in Hasselroth Park by an
Illinois Department of Agriculture employee. Because no infestations
of the pest previously had been confirmed in the county, the
department submitted larva it collected at the park to USDA's Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service for identification. On Sept. 27
the agency confirmed the specimen as emerald ash borer.Rock
Island is the 31st Illinois county with a known infestation of
emerald ash borer. The detection there followed finds in Jo Daviess
and Whiteside counties earlier this summer and effectively means the
beetle is now located throughout the northern third of the state.
"The devastation of urban tree canopies is becoming more and more
noticeable in communities throughout northern Illinois, and people
are asking what they can do about it," said Scott Schirmer, program
manager for emerald ash borer. "Treatment is certainly an option for
some ash-tree owners. However, while considering treatment to
conserve high-value ash, it's also a good time to evaluate the
canopy landscape in your area and begin reforesting with other
species of trees and diversifying your own backyard canopies."
The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic-green beetle native to
Asia. Its larvae burrow into the bark of ash trees, causing the
trees to starve and eventually die. Since the first detection of the
pest near Detroit, Mich., in 2002, it has killed more than 25
million ash trees.
The beetle often is difficult to detect, especially in newly
infested trees. Signs of infestation include thinning and yellowing
leaves, "D"-shaped holes in the bark of the trunk or branches, and
basal shoots. Anyone who suspects an ash tree has been infested
should contact their county Extension office, their village forester
or the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
Forty-one Illinois counties currently are under quarantine to
prevent the artificial or "human-assisted" spread of the beetle
through the movement of infested wood and nursery stock. A new, new
amended quarantine that includes Rock Island, Jo Daviess and
Whiteside counties soon will be put in place, but not until after
the Department of Agriculture has finished inspecting monitoring
traps that were placed in the state this year to track the beetle.
[to top of second column] |
The quarantine prohibits the removal
of the following items:
-
The emerald ash
borer in any living stage of development.
-
Ash trees of any
size.
-
Ash limbs and
branches.
-
Any cut,
non-coniferous firewood.
-
Bark from ash
trees and wood chips larger than 1 inch from ash trees.
-
Ash logs and
lumber with either the bark or the outer 1-inch of sapwood, or
both, attached.
-
Any item made from
or containing the wood of the ash tree that is capable of
spreading the emerald ash borer.
-
Any other article, product or means of
conveyance determined by the Illinois Department of Agriculture
to present a risk of spreading the beetle infestation.
The counties under quarantine are Boone, Bureau, Champaign,
Clark, Coles, Cook, Cumberland, DeKalb, DeWitt, Douglas, DuPage,
Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Grundy, Henry, Iroquois, Kane,
Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, Macon,
Marion, Marshall, McHenry, McLean, Moultrie, Ogle, Piatt, Putnam,
Shelby, Stark, Vermilion, Will, Winnebago and Woodford.
For further information about the beetle, visit
www.IllinoisEAB.com on the
Internet.
[Text from
Illinois Department of
Agriculture
file received from the
Illinois Office of Communication and Information]
 |
