12-05-2006, 08:38 PM
quarantine emerald ash borer
Lansing, Mich. --
The state has revised its quarantine of the tree-killing emerald ash borer to include broader areas where the pest is known to exist as part of an effort to prevent its spread.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture wants to keep the ash borer out of the Upper Peninsula and said the changes put the state's quarantine better in line with federal efforts to contain the beetle.
"Michigan's natural resources are at risk," Mitch Irwin, MDA director, said in a statement Tuesday.
The existing 21-county quarantine area of southeast Michigan has been designated as a Level I quarantine area. A Level II area, which includes the rest of the Lower Peninsula and a small part of Chippewa County in the Upper Peninsula, has been designated to include scattered but isolated infestations.
The ash borer was found in 2005 during a survey of ash trees in Brimley State Park, in Chippewa County along the Lake Superior shoreline. But MDA spokeswoman Angela Riess said it since has been eradicated from the area.
Under the quarantine, ash materials or hardwood firewood may not be moved from southeast Michigan to any other area of the Lower Peninsula, and they also may not be moved out of the Lower Peninsula, the MDA said.
Previously, only portions of the new Level II area were considered quarantined, Riess said.
Violators may be punished by fines ranging from $1,000 to $250,000 and jail time of up to five years.
The beetle is blamed for the loss of more than 20 million trees in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, Canada.
Authorities said the bug, which is native to parts of Asia, probably arrived in North America in wood packing materials. It first was detected in 2002 in southeastern Michigan and also has been found in Maryland, Virginia and Illinois.
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Lansing, Mich. --
The state has revised its quarantine of the tree-killing emerald ash borer to include broader areas where the pest is known to exist as part of an effort to prevent its spread.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture wants to keep the ash borer out of the Upper Peninsula and said the changes put the state's quarantine better in line with federal efforts to contain the beetle.
"Michigan's natural resources are at risk," Mitch Irwin, MDA director, said in a statement Tuesday.
The existing 21-county quarantine area of southeast Michigan has been designated as a Level I quarantine area. A Level II area, which includes the rest of the Lower Peninsula and a small part of Chippewa County in the Upper Peninsula, has been designated to include scattered but isolated infestations.
The ash borer was found in 2005 during a survey of ash trees in Brimley State Park, in Chippewa County along the Lake Superior shoreline. But MDA spokeswoman Angela Riess said it since has been eradicated from the area.
Under the quarantine, ash materials or hardwood firewood may not be moved from southeast Michigan to any other area of the Lower Peninsula, and they also may not be moved out of the Lower Peninsula, the MDA said.
Previously, only portions of the new Level II area were considered quarantined, Riess said.
Violators may be punished by fines ranging from $1,000 to $250,000 and jail time of up to five years.
The beetle is blamed for the loss of more than 20 million trees in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, Canada.
Authorities said the bug, which is native to parts of Asia, probably arrived in North America in wood packing materials. It first was detected in 2002 in southeastern Michigan and also has been found in Maryland, Virginia and Illinois.
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