Issue 17, September 24, 2010
Emerald Ash Borer Update
The emerald ash borer (EAB) has been found in Champaign County at Prairie Pine Campgrounds in Rantoul and in Grundy County at the Three Rivers Rest Area on I-80 in Morris. The infestations were discovered from specimens collected by EAB purple sticky traps. Both specimens were submitted to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which confirmed them as EAB. In June, Illinois Department of Agriculture personnel found specimens of EAB at Rock Cut State Park in Loves Park, which is in Winnebago County.
Grundy and Winnebago Counties are already under the Illinois Department of Agriculture quarantine, which includes all or parts of 23 counties in the northern and central parts of Illinois. Champaign County is not currently in the quarantine, so the quarantine boundaries will need to be adjusted. The quarantine is intended to prevent the accidental spread of the beetle. It prohibits the intrastate movement of potentially-contaminated wood products, including ash trees, limbs and branches and all types of firewood. The boundary adjustment will not be made until all purple traps have been harvested and analyzed.
University of Illinois Extension and Illinois Department of Agriculture personnel are currently conducting a series of homeowner education programs on EAB. The brochure with dates and locations can be found here. There will also be a series of educational programs on EAB for Illinois Department of Natural Resources this fall.--Phil Nixon, part modified from IDA news releases
Author:
Phil Nixon