Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Two Southern Ohio Counties

Agriculture Department Adds Pike and Scioto Counties to Quarantine

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (Aug. 25, 2009) – Ohio’s Emerald Ash Borer quarantine was expanded today by the Ohio Department of Agriculture to include Pike and Scioto counties. The quarantine helps slow the spread of the ash tree-killing insect by prohibiting the movement of all hardwood firewood and ash tree materials.

Specimens confirmed by U.S. Department of Agriculture officials mark the first known infestations in both counties. The Pike County specimen was taken from a purple trap in Mifflin Township, and the Scioto County specimen was taken from a purple trap in Clay Township. Purple traps are detection tools set and monitored by Ohio Department of Agriculture employees.

Since Emerald Ash Borer was first discovered in Ohio in 2003, the department has placed 52 counties under quarantine. The quarantine makes it illegal to transport ash trees, parts of ash trees, and all hardwood firewood from any quarantined county into a non-quarantined county without a compliance agreement from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Violation of this quarantine could result in fines up to $4,000. Due to a federal quarantine, it is also illegal to take these items from the state of Ohio.

Firewood dealers, businesses, or woodlot owners interested in marketing and transporting ash trees or firewood from quarantined areas can do so only with a department-approved compliance agreement. These agreements stipulate handling practices that mitigate the artificial spread of Emerald Ash Borer.

Ash trees infested with Emerald Ash Borer typically die within five years. The pest belongs to a group of metallic wood-boring beetles. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length, one-eighth inch wide, and fly from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees and leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide when they emerge as adults.

For information on the Emerald Ash Borer, maps, compliance agreements, firewood restrictions, purple traps, and quarantine updates, visit www.agri.ohio.gov or call 1-888-OHIO-EAB.

- Media Contact: Kaleigh Frazier, Public Information Officer, 614-728-6211

- Media Contact: Kaleigh Frazier, Public Information Officer, 614-728-6211