As you drive through Southeast Michigan you can see the unfortunate evidence of a new exotic insect from Asia - the Emerald Ash Borer.

The pest, a metallic wood-boring beetle, was discovered in the summer of 2002 and is not native to anywhere in the United States.

Since the initial discovery, 15 million trees in 21 counties are estimated to be infested or dead. The adult borer is dark metallic green in color, one-half-inch in length and one-sixteenth-inch wide, and is 100 percent fatal to ash trees.

The borer's appearance typically goes undetected until the trees show symptoms of being infested - usually the upper third of a tree will thin and then die back. This is usually followed by a large number of shoots or branches arising below the dead portions of the trunk.

To date, the exotic pest has decimated ash tree population in parts of Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.   Based on the age of trees affected, experts believe the beetle has been in the Detroit area for as long as five years or more. 

At this point, there is no specific knowledge on how the borer arrived in Michigan, though it is suggested that the borer entered the United States in wood packaging from China, eastern Russia, Japan or Korea.

With more than 700 million ash trees in Michigan, the state has acted aggressively by enacting a statewide quarantine to prevent further spread, and establishing a task force comprised of experts and officials from state and federal agencies and universities that has cooperatively developed a comprehensive strategy to detect, contain and eradicate Emerald Ash Borer. 

The key components of the strategy include:

• Enforcing the quarantine restricting movement of ash trees and materials;
• Providing sanitation and disposal options ;
• Conducting ongoing surveys to ensure that the pest is not spreading or to quickly detect potential additional infestations;
• Conducting much-needed research into the pest's biology and identifying potential control options;
• Ensuring community and homeowner education, outreach and awareness; and 
• Facilitating tree restoration/replacement wherever possible.