Roundup: Emerald Ash Borer menaces nation's ash trees

Map of the current status of the EAB epidemic, updated March 10, 2006. Source: Cooperative Emerald Ash Borer Project. Download the the full-sized map (PDF, 848k).

An EAB adult is small, but destructive.

CLEVELAND — Federal funding to support emerald ash borer (EAB) eradication efforts were radically reduced late last year, leaving states, cities and homeowners facing an expensive bill and the heartbreak of watching an entire tree species disappear from North America.

EAB has killed more than 15 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and adjacent areas of Canada since it was discovered in Southeast Michigan in 2002. Agronomists estimate the pest threatens more than eight billion ash trees across the country.

In 2005, federal funding for the eradication effort was $27 million. Although the President's 2006 budget requested $32 million to fight EAB in 2006, Congress approved only $10 million for the entire affected region, including Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

Last December, Ohio Governor Bob Taft requested $50 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fight EAB in 2006. So far Ohio has received only $1.25 million in federal funding, compared to the $16.5 million it received in 2005.

As a result, Ohio officials have revised Ohio's EAB eradication program. The state will no longer fund tree-cutting in Northwest Ohio, but will try to contain the pest there through quarantine regulation. It will step up statewide detection efforts, but ash-tree eradication will be funded only if infestations are discovered far away from the currently quarantined areas.

The state announced it will set more than 15,000 detection trees across the state before May when the EAB adults begin to emerge. Last year the state established 1,800 detection trees only in Northwest Ohio.

This tree shows initial symptoms of the EAB injury. Download "Signs and Symptoms of Emerald Ash Borer," an illustrated PDF from MSU Extension.

In a policy reversal, Ohio officials approved the use of chemical insecticides in Northwest Ohio, despite the fact that OSU extension officials admit being skeptical about the efficacy of expensive spray treatments, trunk injections or soil applications.

Ohio forestry officials are urging cities to begin surveying and identifying all their ash trees and planning for how they will pay for ash tree removal if (or when) the pest reaches them.

Ash seed collection project

The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is taking steps to to preserve the species for future generations if it is completely devastated by EAB. Researchers at NRCS' Rose Lake Plant Materials Center (RLPMC) in East Lansing, MI, are coordinating an Ash Seed Collection Project. The collected seed will be stored at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) in Fort Collins, CO. RLPMC is seeking volunteers to collect seed from ash trees in the entire Great Lakes region. Details of how to collect and send seeds to the center are available on the RLPMC Web Site.

Related articles:

"Ash borer devastates nursery industry," Great Lakes Radio Consortium, May 20, 2006.

"Budget cuts to fuel ash borer's spread," Great Lakes Radio Consortium, March 13, 2006.

"Ohio OKs insecticides to fight area ash borer," Toledo Blade, February 20, 2006.

"Ash borer costs shifting to cities, homeowners," AP via The Akron Beacon Journal, February 18, 2006.

"State (OH) abandons area battle against destructive beetle," Toledo Blade, February 16, 2006.

Online resource:

EmeraldAshBorer.info

A collaboration between state and federal agencies providing comprehensive and timely information on the EAB threat.