Wisconsin Ag Connection - Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Milwaukee County

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Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Milwaukee County
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 11/12/2009

Even with the cold weather approaching, officials are still finding traces of the Emerald Ash Borer in Wisconsin. The latest discovery has been confirmed in the City of Oak Creek on November 11. Crews with Department of Agriculture's EAB Survey Program uncovered a larva in a tree that was removed earlier this month as part of a follow-up survey of the Franklin area infestation. The other larval samples were discovered in a tree with D-shaped exit holes that was being removed by a tree care company on private property.

The DATCP says the trees were approximately one-third of a mile apart along a stretch of Ridgeview Drive. Officials identified the samples as larval stages of the emerald ash borer, which had been previously found in Milwaukee County's City of Franklin on August 27. The larvae were discovered in trees less than two miles away from infested tree in Franklin.

So far, EAB has been found in seven Wisconsin counties, including this latest find in Milwaukee County. The other counties are Brown, Crawford, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Vernon and Washington.

Meanwhile, the Department of Natural Resources is reminding hunters who are planning to participate in the upcoming gun-deer season that its illegal to move uncertified hardwood firewood out of those counties. The movement of infested firewood is something that experts agree has dramatically influenced the extent of the EAB infestation in the United States.

For those hunters camping on state-owned lands this year, the DNR prohibits bringing firewood onto any DNR property if the firewood came from more than 50 miles away or from out of state. This includes campsites in state parks and forests. DATCP-certified firewood is allowed on state lands.

The emerald ash borer, an exotic beetle native to Asia, has been responsible for the loss of millions of ash trees in the United States and Canada since its introduction. The beetle was first detected in Wisconsin in 2008.