Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Mitch Irwin today announced that the state received an additional $2.1 million in emergency funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) to respond to the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Michigan.

“These funds will allow us to appropriately respond to EAB in priority infestations in Michigan such as the recently identified pest population in the Upper Peninsula,” said Irwin. “Without a sustained federal commitment, however, there is a real risk of losing Michigan’s entire ash resource to EAB.”

MDA will be utilizing these funds for eradication efforts in outlying infestations located in key gateway areas such as Berrien County and the Brimley area in Chippewa County. The “gateways” were determined by recommendations made by the National EAB Science Advisory Panel and located along Michigan’s borders with Indiana and Ohio, St. Clair County along the St. Clair River, and counties near the Mackinaw Bridge.

In 2005, Michigan had requested $25 million from USDA-APHIS to contain and eradicate EAB in the state. To date, including the additional $2.1 million, Michigan has received $12.7 million.

“To effectively fight this pest, it’s critical that Michigan receive the full 2006 funding request of $29.5 million,” said Patricia Lockwood, EAB policy director for Governor Granholm. “The beetle’s aggressive nature will not subside and funding must continue for Michigan to make additional strides in curbing the pest’s relentless attack on our state’s ash resources.”

Emerald Ash Borer was first discovered and identified in Michigan in the summer of 2002. Prior to that time, it had never before been found on the North American continent. This highly destructive pest causes vast mortality in ash trees and has killed approximately 15 million of Michigan’s estimated 700 million ash tree population.

For more information about the detection tree program or EAB, please visit one of these Web sites: www.michigan.gov/eab or www.emeraldashborer.info. You may also contact your regional MDA office, or your local Michigan State University Extension or conservation district office.