Infestation poses risk to Mississippi River Valley, 2 more states

By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel

 

The emerald ash borer has leaped across southern Wisconsin from the
Milwaukee suburbs to a small community on the Mississippi River.

With the latest finding, the destructive beetle threatens the popular
and scenic Mississippi River Valley and raises the specter of striking
other tourist hotspots, such as Wisconsin’s North Woods.

Officials announced the newest case Tuesday after a property owner in
the Vernon County community of Victory alerted authorities that trees
in his neighborhood bore the telltale signs of an infestation.

The beetles might have been in the area for several years, a state
official said.

The discovery puts the beetle on the doorstep of Iowa and Minnesota –
two states that haven’t been infected by the bug responsible for
killing tens of millions of ash trees in the East and Midwest.

The Mississippi, like other river corridors, is seen as a major
pathway for the insect to spread.

One tree that showed signs of infestation was next to a boat ramp
operated by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“Here you have ash trees up and down the river,” said Mick Skwarok, a
spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection. “And you have the traffic from the Great River
Road and a lot of camping and boaters on the Mississippi who all have
the potential of moving firewood.”

Firewood, wood material and nursery stock containing ash are the
quickest way for the emerald ash borer to spread because adult beetles
generally fly short distances.

Wisconsin officials have imposed a quarantine on ash products on
Ozaukee, Washington, Sheboygan and Fond du Lac counties in the hope of
limiting the spread in southeastern Wisconsin.

An outbreak in Missouri – the westernmost infestation – showed up at a
campground.

Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen said state and federal
authorities have been inspecting the Victory area, and a Minnesota
Department of Agriculture spokesman said personnel from his state were
en route Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve all been watching EAB,” said Michael Schommer, a spokesman for
the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. “But when it came to
Wisconsin, that ratcheted up our intensity.”
Surfaced in August

In Wisconsin, the emerald ash borer was found in August on a private
woodlot east of Newburg. Since that time, 44 different infestations
have been identified in Ozaukee and Washington counties.

In a separate case, infected trees from a nursery in a quarantined
area of Illinois were found at a Kenosha County home. The trees were
removed, and no other evidence of the beetle has been found in that
area, officials said.

Wisconsin authorities wanted to try to find the extent of the outbreak
near Newburg this summer, while not discounting that the beetle will
turn up somewhere else.

To find other possible locations, 7,000 to 9,000 traps will be hung on
trees this year, including along the state’s border with Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula, where the bug is present.

Wisconsin has spent $4 million in federal money and $400,000 in state
funds through a three-year period that ends this summer.

Last month, state officials said eradication is not a viable option
around Newburg because there are too many ash trees in the vicinity
and the insect appears to be well-entrenched. The emerald ash borer
might have been in the area for at least five years.

Eradication appears to be effective where trees have been infected for
only a year or two, studies have found.

The emerald ash borer was discovered in 2002 in suburban Detroit. It’s
believed to have arrived in wooden packing crates from Asia.

Since then, it’s killed tens of millions of trees in southeastern
Michigan and tens of million more trees from Ontario to Missouri.

Adult beetles are metallic green and about one-half inch long. They
eat ash foliage but cause little damage to trees. The threat comes
from larvae, which feed on the inner bark and disrupt the flow of
nutrients of a tree.

Although chemical treatments have become available, an infestation can
kill an ash tree in just two years.
Latest appearance

The latest case began March 30 when the owner of a blade-sharpening
business called the agriculture department’s emerald ash borer
hotline.

Meanwhile, a DNR forester stopped by the business to get a chain saw
sharpened.

Samples of larvae in the bark of trees and photos were sent to experts
in Madison and at a federal laboratory in Michigan to confirm the
infestation. Skwarok said that because of the weakened condition of
several trees, it appears that the infestation could be several years
old.

In the latest case, a special challenge will be communicating with
Amish residents, Skwarok said. Some Amish in the area operate sawmills
and woodworking businesses.

State officials estimate that there are about 765 million ash trees in
Wisconsin. On average, one in five urban trees is a species of ash.
Ash borer basics For more on the emerald ash borer, go to
www.jsonline.com/wisconsin