Officials taking steps to eliminate Emerald Ash Borer from county

Officials from the Michigan Department of Agriculture, along with other federal and state agencies, have been meeting with local government officials and home owners to explain what steps are being taken with the detection of the Emerald Ash Borer in Ocqueoc Township. Positive ash trees were confirmed in September and a half-mile area around the area will have ash trees marked for removal between now and December 20. Emerald Ash Borer is a highly destructive, exotic insect that was discovered in southeast Michigan in 2002. While the insect has been found primarily in southern Michigan, from Detroit to Monroe, it has been found in isolated locations in Grand Rapids, Roscommon, and now in northern Michigan.

Cases of EAB have been confirmed in Alcona and Emmet counties, and now Presque Isle County officials are working to eliminate the problem. Dave Glenn, Michigan State University Extension director, believes officials have detected the bug in Presque Isle County early, so it won’t spread any further.

“WE REALLY need to rely on the eyes and ears of the residents in looking at these ash trees,” said Glenn. “We want to nip it in the bud. What we don’t want is to take out a township or a section worth of ash trees. We want to keep it to within that half-mile radius, so the earlier the detection, the better. “Officials are confident that they’ve contained that insect within that half mile. The insect is not very mobile and it doesn’t fly a long way. That’s why they’ve gone to a half mile.”

Five trees clustered within a few feet of each other in the Ocqueoc Lake area were infested with EAB. A half-mile radius has been drawn around the trees, and to-be-determined area will be quarantined. If another tree tests positive, the half mile radius is expanded around that tree. No wood, whether it’s ash, maple, birch, or pine, will be permitted to be taken from the quarantined area. It is illegal in Michigan to transport firewood from a quarantined area. Glenn believes the insect was brought to Presque Isle County in firewood from a resident of the metro Detroit area, and it could have been a few years ago.

SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN has had the EAB for the last six to eight years but it went undetected. It is not believed that the Ocqueoc Lake property owners are at fault because they are permanent residents. A meeting was conducted Monday evening at the Ocqueoc Township with government officials and local residents to answer questions and outline future steps. Between now and December 20, which is the next meeting at the Ocqueoc Township Hall, ash trees in the half-mile radius will be marked for removal. Residents will be able to see what trees are going to be cut down and respond at the next meeting. After that, crews will begin taking the ash trees down. “They need to chip those trees to a diameter to no more than an inch,” said Glenn. While people won’t be compensated, grants will be available through the DNR for restoration 30 days after the ash tree is removed. Replacement can be with anything other than an ash tree.

THE INSECT is suspected of coming to the U.S. on a cargo ship from Asia. The female lays eggs in the bark, they hatch, and then burrow just under the bark where the insect attacks the vascular system that transports water and nutrients throu

ghout the tree. Glenn said a suspected tree with EAB will die in sections. It takes about two to three years to kill a tree. Depending on the temperatures, the insects will begin emerging late in the summer in Presque Isle County. “When they emerge out of the tree they leave a very distinctive capital D access hole,” said Glenn. “That’s what we look for, in order to verify that.” Glenn was alerted of the situation in May and immediately contacted MDA inspector Bob Patterson. “We really needed to wait for that emergence and start looking for the other signs,” said Glenn.

The borer already has devastated approximately eight million ash trees in the primary impacted six-county core zone in Southeast Michigan. EAB continues to damage or destroy trees in this region as well as infest other areas in various counties and communities due mainly to the pre-quarantine movement of ash materials or firewood. The state has an active, multi-agency Emerald Ash Borer Task Force working collectively to detect, contain and eradicate EAB and minimize its damage.

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