May 22, 2005, Lansing, MI - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today proclaimed the week of May 21 as "Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Awareness Week" to help increase awareness of the devastating effect EAB has on Michigan's natural resources.

"The Emerald Ash Borer is a problem we take seriously in Michigan," said Granholm. "This pest has caused considerable economic and environmental damage to our natural resources. Let's all do our part to preserve Michigan's natural heritage by leaving our firewood at home as we kickoff the camping and travel season."

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) opened a permanent inspection station in May 2005 at the Mackinac Bridge. The station is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To date, MDA staff has inspected:

• 10,008 trucks
• 19,869,850 board feet of lumber (cubic measure equal to one foot square by one inch thick)
• 124,114 cords of pulpwood and logs
• 91,765 tons of chips and sawdust
• 380 cubic yards of firewood

"Each state affected by EAB must work together and take aggressive action to safeguard the nation's forests and natural heritage," said Patricia Lockwood, EAB policy director for the Governor. "We need the collective efforts of every citizen and tourist in order to be successful in our containment efforts."

The proclamation highlights the need for the continued public support in order to contain the pest and protecting the more than 8 billion ash trees blanketing North America. During the week and throughout the year, Michigan residents and visitors should adhere to the state's quarantine banning the transport of ash trees, ash materials and all hardwood firewood from quarantined areas or out of the Lower Peninsula.

Quarantine violators face fines/penalties ranging from $1,000 up to $250,000 and face up to five years in jail if found guilty of transporting hardwood firewood out of the Lower Peninsula into the Upper Peninsula or surrounding states.

The Emerald Ash Borer Response Project, comprised of state and federal agencies, universities, and industry partners, attributes many of the "outlier" infestations (isolated pockets of infestation) to the movement of infested hardwood firewood.

EAB is an exotic insect native to Asia that attacks ash trees. In its larval stage, EAB feeds undetected under the bark of ash trees, disrupting water and nutrient flow, and ultimately killing the trees in just a few years. First discovered in 2002, the borer is responsible for the death or damage of approximately 15 million ash trees in Michigan.

Click here to see the official proclamation PDF, or for more information, please visit www.michigan.gov/eab or www.emeraldashborer.info