March 4, 2008

LANSING - The Michigan departments of Agriculture (MDA) and Natural Resources (DNR) will co-host an Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Summit titled "Life with EAB” on March 6 and 7, 2008 in Lansing, Michigan.

The EAB Summit will bring together a coalition of stakeholders in an atmosphere promoting the sharing of EAB initiatives - including successes and failures - to establish a common platform of information and define actions focusing on future initiatives and investments in a common direction.

“This summit provides a platform for discussion on how to co-exist with EAB,” said Don Koivisto, MDA director. “Additionally, it brings impacted stakeholders together to be involved in the decision making for how this invasive pest is managed in the future.”

Topics for the EAB Summit include:

• Invasive Species - Dr. Deb McCullough, Michigan State University professor
• U.S. National Initiatives - Craig Kellogg, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
• Canadian EAB Activities - Ken Marchant, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Michigan EAB program - Ken Rauscher, MDA

EAB is an exotic, aggressive beetle native to Asia and was discovered in southeast Michigan in 2002. To date, the pest is responsible for the death or damage of approximately 25 million ash trees in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ontario, Canada.

For more information about EAB, please visit www.michigan.gov/eab or www.emeraldashborer.info. Upper Peninsula residents are encouraged to continue to report suspect EAB infestations by calling the toll free EAB hotline at 866-325-0023.