Multistate Effort to Fight Emerald Ash Borer

A red alert is set in Indiana to be wary of emerald ash borer, the cause of 25 million ash trees killed in the United States. The pest was believed to have arrived in the country in the early 1990s via wooden shipping crates from Asia. Since its discovery in Detroit in 2002, many states have doubled their efforts in eradicating the pest. In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels declared the week May 18-24 Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Awareness Week, in an effort to reinforce the dangers of firewood movement by unsuspecting citizens. Dr. Jodie Ellis, a Purdue University entomologist, believes that firewood movement is by far the biggest problem in slowing the spread of EAB in Indiana.

Purdue University partners with the Indiana state parks and properties, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service in attempts to spread the quarantine message to all citizens. In addition, a federal quarantine has been put in effect for movement of regulated ash products from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland.

Further quarantine information and maps are available online at http://www.entm.purdue.edu/eab. For additional information, see press release at: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080513EllisAwareness.html