The emerald ash borer, a beetle that kills ash trees, has been found in St. Paul, and the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday, May 26, 2009 to use all legal means possible to keep the pests from entering the county, including enacting penalties for bringing them in.
County Land Commissioner Mary Black reported that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has quarantined Houston County, establishing requirements that regulate the transportation of ash products from that county.
Transporting firewood is the No. 1 means of spreading the emerald ash borer, Black said. Campers bringing ash firewood into the county could pose the greatest danger to the county’s ash stands.
According to county agriculture inspector Shae Kosmalski, U.S. Forest Service land in Cook County includes 20,000 acres of ash stands plus the ash trees that are mixed in with other species. She said the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has established a rule that firewood must come from local sources. People bringing ash firewood from outside the county will be required to place it in a bag and bring it back home.
The goal is to slow the spread of the disease, which has the potential to be as widespread as Dutch elm disease, Kosmalski said. Emerald ash borers infest treetops first. By the time a person standing on the ground can see the bugs and their effect on a tree’s wood, the tree is probably too diseased to be saved, she said. Black added that emerald ash borers generally damage a tree for four to five years before they can be detected.
Minnesota has the second largest amount of ash in the country, Black said.
Leave a Reply