MDA EAB Program Strategies for 2007
Supplement to the
Emerald Ash Borer Michigan Response Strategy
October 9, 2006

In the continuing response to the presence of emerald ash borer in Michigan, the following strategy document has been developed as an addendum to the EAB Michigan Response Strategy in recognition of the current status of the beetle in Michigan, and the development of program options and strategies that were not available in the past. To download this document in Adobe pdf format, click here.

SURVEY

• Evaluate results from the 2006 Detection Tree Program.
• Maintain a comprehensive survey plan for the Upper Peninsula to include a high density Detection Tree Program, as well as continuous increased survey techniques in high-risk areas.
• Establish a Detection Tree Program in the Northern Gateway of the Lower Peninsula consisting of Emmet and Cheboygan Counties.
• Implement Detection Tree survey protocols around eradication areas to evaluate success of removal action.

REGULATORY

• Maintain regulatory compliance agreements with regulated industries for the movement of regulated articles both interstate and intrastate. Maximize enforcement actions for quarantine violations.
• Maintain and enhance random firewood blitzes along targeted Michigan thoroughfares across the state to help ensure infested materials are not being moved illegally.
• Maintain enforcement on the movement of regulated materials through the mandatory Inspection Station at the Mackinac Bridge. Increase partnership with the Michigan State Police in St. Ignace to immediately respond to potential violators not stopping at the Inspection Station.

RESPONSE ACTIVITIES

• Maintain eradication objectives in the Upper Peninsula and potentially within outlying locations discovered in the Northern Gateway areas, as designated by the Science Advisory Panel.
• Identify and support activities that reduce EAB population densities in the outlying areas of the Lower Peninsula.

RESPONSE ACTIVITIES BY AREA:

• Upper Peninsula
• Where EAB is present, continue efforts to delineate, quarantine and eradicate infestations. Tree removal activities may be a multi-year effort due to the time of year discovered and environmental restrictions present.
• Where EAB has not been detected, support voluntary reduction of the ash resource and encourage wood utilization opportunities.
• Lower Peninsula Quarantined Areas
• Allow for, and support voluntary actions of residents, municipal foresters, etc. to apply insecticides in these areas to assist in the control of EAB.
• Allow for, and support municipalities to participate in the Municipal Tree Removal Program and encourage landowners to join.
• Allow for, and encourage voluntary tree removal activities and value added opportunities for woodlot trees. 
• Collaborate with DNR, Forest Service and private landowners to develop an ash reduction management plan to harvest ash and manage forest areas to favor alternate species.
• Support development of value added activities and businesses utilizing ash materials to help build markets to digest ash that is removed due to EAB. 

SANITATION/DISPOSAL

• Encourage market development of wood utilization in Michigan.
• Provide opportunities for landowners, communities, and tree maintenance companies to properly and safely dispose of their dead and dying ash trees through operation of disposal sites.
• Implement additional disposal sites throughout the Lower Peninsula to prevent further spread of EAB.
• Dispose of infested or at-risk ash trees removed from outlier eradication and containment sites.

Outreach and Education

• Continue to involve EAB Communications Committee representatives, trade and industry organizations in the distribution of program related information (brochures, trade journals, television, billboards, press releases, etc).
• Maintain the current "Don't Move Firewood" message and expand the message to include other invasive species affected by the movement of firewood.
• Continue outreach and education system of public meetings and direct mailings for outlier areas.
• Maintain and enhance a comprehensive EAB website for citizens and stakeholders.
• Implement a communications strategy based on thorough analysis of demographics, reach and various tools and mediums to help raise awareness of EAB and the importance of the quarantine.
• Implement a communications strategy on invasive pests in the school system to increase knowledge of the impacts of invasive species to the local natural resource.

Restoration

• Maintain the pilot program ROOTs (Restoration of our Trees) and continue its development to assist communities with the cost share of canopy replacement in southeast Michigan. Continue to develop the program with DNR and other partners with a goal of providing suitable low cost trees to landowners and communities impacted by EAB.
• Continue to provide restoration grants to communities affected by the removal of ash trees in response areas.

RESEARCH

• Increase methods development activities to provide wide area detection, control and eradication tools and techniques in support of the EAB program.