July 11, 2007

LANSING - The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) urges everyone living in and visiting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to be aware of the signs of symptoms of the emerald ash borer (EAB), an exotic pest that attacks and kills ash trees.

Though EAB has not become established in the U.P., it poses a devastating threat to the ash resources there. It has killed more than 25 million ash trees in lower Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Maryland since it was discovered in 2002. EAB was most likely present in Michigan for at least 10 years before its discovery. And just recently, EAB was discovered in Pennsylvania.

MDA established a wood inspection station at the Mackinac Bridge in an effort to stop the pest from becoming established in the Upper Peninsula. This inspection station helps support the state’s EAB interior quarantine by inspecting and restricting movement of regulated articles into the Upper Peninsula.

“The Mackinac Bridge continues to be a critical pinch point for preventing the spread of EAB into the Upper Peninsula,” said Ken Rauscher, Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division director. “The more knowledgeable people are about EAB, the more able we are to respond rapidly and get rid of any isolated infestations.”

This year, MDA set a total of 3,354 ash detection trees along road rights-of-way in every county of the Upper Peninsula to identify the presence of EAB. This fall, the ash trees will be felled and the bark peeled to look for evidence of the insect.

The signs and symptoms of an EAB infestation in ash trees:

• Distinct “D”-shaped exit holes in the bark
• “S”-shaped trails, or galleries, found underneath the bark
• Canopy thinning/branch dieback
• Trunk branches - wild leafy shoots growing from the lower trunk
• Vertical splits in the bark
• Increased woodpecker activity

And most importantly, to protect the state’s 700 million ash trees, do not transport any hardwood firewood regardless of species - buy your firewood locally. For more information, please visit www.michigan.gov/eab or www.emeraldashborer.info. In addition, please call the EAB toll-free number at 1-866-325-0023 to report any potential EAB sites in the Upper Peninsula.