Important Poll EAB

[Jeff]

There is a campanion thread to go with this Poll. Feel free to comment here or there.

Emerald Ash Borer wood on the move?

Guests, Please vote!

I noticed that views of this Poll are already higher then the number of votes. Everyone PLEASE respond.

Other threads with Emerald Ash Borer information:

Topic: Emerald Ash Borer

Topic: Ash trees

MDNR Urban & Community Forestry Project/PICTURES!

[Jeff]

Here is a pretty complete imformation source for EAB from MDA

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1568_2390_18298---,00.html

[chet]

Even with the limited votes so far the results are pretty sobering.

[Stump Jumper]

Which 6 counties is there a map

[Ron Wenrich]

I wouldn't expect results that would be very informative.  The ash borer is currently a localized problem, much the same as the longhorn beetle.  Your poll is affected by a much larger audience.  Those outside the area may have heard of the borer, but aren't affected by the quarantine, so are uninformed.

[Jeff]

I'm sure that is true, but the real reason I put it on here is to draw awareness. As you said its currently a local problem, but its potential for growing makes it more then that. I have already seen Michigan forum members votes on the Poll as "Never heard of it" . That is definitely informative.

[AtLast]

Its NOT 6 counties anymore. Its now 13 counties effecting 22 MILLION trees with the threat of total erradication of 1.2 BILLION ash trees!!!!!

[AtLast]

Ron,
what you fail to think is that should this EAB go outside the Quarn areas it will be a nation epidemic. Ther ARE spots in Maryland, Ohio and Onterio. Through firewood, nursery and improperly handled green ash lumber the EAB is easily spred. That just exemplifies (sp) the importence of PUBLIC AWARENESS!!!...you of all people should know Ron how quickly this has gotten out of hand in Michigan alone. Now take those same numbers and place them in each individual state. 1.2 million x 49. granted each stae doesnt have the concentration of ash but the number is STILL staggering

[Percy]

I responded to this poll on the "Never Heard About It" choice because I havent. BUT here in B.C. we have the Pine Beetle which has  destroyed a forest area the size of Sweden.

I would suggest that anyone who may be even slightly affected or even have a remote possibility of contact with this threat to educate themselves as much as possible. And DONT move any wood products from one area to another that may even have the slightest chance of contamination. We learned too late here in B.C. and have a disaster on our hands right now....

[Ron Wenrich]

AtLast

I'm quite aware of the movement of the EAB outside of the quarantine area.  I went through the gypsy moth moving from one side of our state to the other.  There was a quarantine on logs and that didn't even slow it down.  They just kept making the quarantine area larger.  Quarantines are a band-aid fix.

The control for gypsy moth came after years of research.  The moth was also allowed to run its course.  Spraying only occured near populated areas, and was not a good control.  The expense got to be too massive, so they let it run wild.  I saw entire mountainsides stripped, and was in stands with 90% oak mortalitiy..

Now, we have isolated outbreaks.  The biological controls that they have developed seems to have worked.

The longhorn beetle is another imported pest.  But, instead of using just quarantines, they have actively gone out and tried eradication.  This is a lot more effective.  They haven't had any more cases in IL for the past 2 years.  They figure by 2009 they will have it eradicated in NY and NJ.  Cost $365 million.  

How you would go about with eradication of the EAB, I don't know.  But, expanding the quaratine area won't be much of a control.

Maybe we should be rethinking the way we import things.  Europe has gone to heat treated pallets to help eliminate foreign pests.  Expensive for the exporters, but a good preventative measure.  Do you think our imports from Asia are going to decline?

[AtLast]

Ron,
I didnt mean in ANY way to question your knowledge. I KNOW youre VERY wel versed and I have ALWAYS respected your position. So please dont think I was challanging you by any means. The MDA site goes to prove the lack of....commitment maybe...hell I guess you would expect them or should I say I would expect them to be more aggressive. Michigan has " hot spots" popping up all over the state and you can almost see that the spots parallel a major highway. The MDA and MDNR pretty much antisipate total spred but are not prepared to actually say it. I TOTALLY TOTALLY TOTALLY agree with you " import" policies. That could be a MAJOR nightmare to impose. How could it even be done?. But the fact remains that that IS the MAIN reason for alot of this desimation. I see all the things going on with Oaks, pines, Ash, Elm and maples and the first thing that pops into my head is " SOYLENT GREEN"  

[Jeff]

AtLast,

As much as has been done, you are correct, more can and should be done. But we do have prove that what is being done is helping get the word out. Just think about it. What are the chances that some dude that lives in central Northern Michigan walks through a Home Depot parking lot and sees a truck load of Ash firewood in an old Toyota and notices it as unusual? Now the MDA and DNR have pictures of the truck, and the wood, and the license number to do a follow up to see if...
A. this is Infected Wood
and if it is
B. Where it came
C. Where it went
and in either case
D.Inform the people if needed
E. Reprimand the people if needed
F. Make aware to many more people and the people they come in contact with of the problem.

Now the people on this website are aware, and hopefully the THOUSANDS of people that visit it every week.

Continue to be as passionate about saving and utilizing the resource as you have been and it WILL make a difference.

[GAV64]

Up in Western Mass the ash trees have been slowly dieing for years I always thoght it was from the acid rain, what should I look for, it's probably too late since there are only a few ashes left on my property. they sure do make good widow makers! hate working around them. glenn

[Kevin]

Look for holes in the bark, it might be a boring beetle.

[L. Wakefield]

   The few I've seen to recognize in Me and WV were healthy and beautiful. I shall watch them more closely and look for others.   lw

[Greenman]

I never thought to put a post about EAB on here.  I guess I just assumed the guys on here knew about it.  I'm really glad to see the information's getting out, though.  This and ash yellows are supposed to be worse for ash than DED was for American elm.

Here in the next year or two I'll be teaching a class on invasive species.  I've been thinking about putting together a database.  Keep an eye out for it.

[craigc90]

I am starting to wory about this problem a little more. I recieved my Ohio Woodland Journal yesterday and there is an article on EAB in several places in Ohio. Its probably just a matter of time now. I have a decent amount of ash mixed in my woodlot and have been leaving them because I was told Gypsy Moth do not like them. You just cant win.

[pasbuild]

  Just read in yesterdays paper that a Milford landscaper plead no contest to 123 charges connected to violations of the states EAB quarantine.
 Two shipment of 121 trees were sent to Maryland, some of the trees had been sold and had to be removed from where they had been planted.
 He faces a fine of up to $100 and 90 days in jail per count, sentencing Wednesday, let's see what happens.

[Jeff]

EAB Eradication Project Update
December 11, 2003


Regulatory Issues
EAB in Canada and Ohio
Officials from the MDA and USDA recently met with their partners in Canada to discuss Canada’s current EAB operations.  Canada has already crafted their control management strategy, which will include removing trees within a 500-meter radius around the last-know positive infested ash trees.  Canada’s regulatory officials are not considering any pesticide treatment options.  Also, extensive visual survey by Canadian personnel has not revealed any positively infested ash trees on the Canadian side of the St. Clair River.  Officials from the US and Canada are monitoring the St. Clair River very closely, and making every effort to prevent the borer from hopping over the river to Canada.

More infestations are also being uncovered in Ohio as a result of tracebacks of Southeast Michigan nursery sales records for the time before the quarantine was enacted restricting the sale of ash trees and material.  One such nursery traceback resulted in the discovery of an isolated infestation in Columbus, Ohio.  Agriculture officials from Ohio and the USDA are crafting an eradication plan for Columbus in addition to the other isolated infestation in northwest Ohio.

Survey Activity
As of Nov. 13, and since July 11, surveyors from the three EAB survey zone offices have logged 37,661 data points, examined in excess of 180,000 trees, and covered roughly 483,000 acres (755 square miles) of southeast Michigan. Statewide survey efforts by MDA and USDA inspectors have including 1138 inspections in 82 of 83 Michigan counties.  These inspections include “high-risk” entities such as nurseries, sawmills, firewood dealers, etc.

Communications and Outreach
EAB Goes To College
Agricultural Technology students in an agriculture and natural resources policy class at Michigan State University learned the “ins and outs” of the EAB crisis during a class session on November 18. Debbie Miller, forestry entomologist from the USDA Forest Service, and Robin Millsap, information officer for the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station at MSU, presented the 26 students with information on the history and known biology of the pest, examples of its destruction, as well as research methods being tested to fight the pest. They also learned how MSU, the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service and APHIS, and the industries were involved in the collaborative effort to eradicate this pest. There was a lively discussion when the question "Who should pay for replacing all the dead trees?" was asked. Some thought the environmental groups should be involved, others thought the "government" should figure out a way to pay for it, some thought the homeowners should bear the brunt of the costs. Many of the students knew first hand about the pest, either by its presence on their parents' property or working with MSU Extension personnel involved in EAB. This was one of many classes that have had presentations on EAB at MSU.

Updated EAB brochure now available
The “Pest Alert: Emerald Ash Borer, An Unwanted Hitchhiker,” produced by The Michigan Department of Agriculture, has been revised.  Supplies of the four-color, tri-fold brochure are now available for distribution.  A revision date has been added to the new version, as quarantine provisions may change periodically.  It is anticipated that adjustments to the core and quarantine will occur in January, at which time another revision will be available. If you have any questions or would like a supply of the brochures, please contact Mindy Hilton, MDA Communications Assistant at 517-241-1225; or HiltonM@Michigan.gov.

Deer Hunting Firewood outreach
On Nov. 13-14, MDA and USDA regulatory officials set up Firewood Checkpoint stations at three locations along popular deer-hunter routes.  Checkpoints were located at rest stops in Clio (I-75 North), Alma (US-27 North), and Portland (I-96 West).  More than 1,600 pieces of firewood were confiscated as part of a stepped-up quarantine enforcement program.  No fines were levied.  Hunters and motorists were generally cooperative with inspectors, and more importantly, a vast majority of motorists approached at all three rest stops were familiar with the EAB problem.  In support of the firewood checkpoints, EAB communications staff advanced a press release and conducted interviews with several regional media outlets, which garnered positive media coverage.  Also participating in the outreach and regulatory activity were DNR deer-hunter welcome centers (in St. Ignace and Clare) as well as all Operations Service Centers.  The DNR personnel distributed large quantities of EAB outreach and education material.

State and county prosecute violator of EAB Quarantine
A Southeast Michigan firm that disregarded the state’s Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) quarantine by illegally selling and shipping infested landscape ash trees to Maryland will be held accountable though legal prosecution.

According to MDA Director Dan Wyant and Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca, Stuart Leve, Inc., a landscape design/consulting firm in Oakland County, has been charged with 123 separate counts of violating the state’s EAB quarantine and plant health laws. In addition to unlawfully sending two different shipments of 121 ash trees to Maryland, the firm shipped the trees without an official inspection certifying the trees were free of plant diseases or pests, another clear violation of law. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10.

“Because of this firm’s actions, another state unfortunately must now deal with the potentially devastating economic and environmental costs and losses this exotic insect pest causes,” Wyant said. “The quarantine was implemented to prevent this damage in other areas of our state, country and continent and is critical to stopping the spread of Emerald Ash Borer.”

A federal quarantine was enacted on Oct. 8 to complement and supplement the state quarantine, so this and other violators now face much stiffer penalties.

**Update**
Sentencing was handed down this afternoon (12/10) in 52-1 District Court in Michigan's Oakland County to Stuart Leve of Stuart Leve, Inc.

Essentially the judge ordered:
1) $100 (the max) in fines for each violation, 123 of them total for a monetary total of $12,300
2) probation for two years
3) 200 hours of community service working with local units of government in Oakland Co. helping them remove dead ash trees

Additionally, the firm has had to pay $16,000 (value of the trees + the cost of destroying hundreds more exposed) in restitution to the Maryland nursery who purchased the trees AND the judge left open the possibility of him paying restitution for the costs incurred by the Maryland and Virginia Departments of Agriculture to deal with this pest and the trees, provided they can directly document and verify time and resources expended on this particular case/incident.

Our message is that this sentencing indicates the how seriously the state and its federal and local partners will monitor and enforce the quarantine as it is a critical component of Michigan's ability to be successful in stopping the spread of EAB and the tremendous and devastating economic and environmental damage it causes. The cooperation and support of every Michigan resident and business with the quarantine is vital to protecting our state's scenic natural resources and landscapes.

Please feel free to share this report with all interested constituents.

Contributions to the next EAB Project Update report can be submitted to James McRay, EAB Communications Specialist at McRayJ@Michigan.gov

[Greenman]

I don't think his punishment was enough.