Minn. Urges Checks for Emerald Ash Borer

Minnesota and Iowa agriculture officials braced for the emerald ash borer's arrival Tuesday after Wisconsin biologists discovered the tree-eating beetle on the Mississippi River's edge.

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection officials said Tuesday they've confirmed the emerald ash borer has been found in Victory, a Vernon County community on the Mississippi about a mile southeast of the Minnesota and Iowa borders.

The Asian insect feeds on ash trees during its larval stage. Ash borers attack the soft wood between the bark and the hard wood where vessels carry water and nutrients, causing the tree to decline and eventually die.

The beetle has been found in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, West Virginia, Virginia, Missouri and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The beetle turned up in Wisconsin last summer in Ozaukee and Washington counties in the southeastern corner of the state.

Wisconsin DATCP has asked federal officials to approve a halt to moving firewood, ash nursery stock and ash timber out of Vernon and Crawford counties to prevent beetles hidden in the wood from spreading. A similar ban already is in place in Fond du Lac, Ozaukee, Sheboygan and Washington counties.

Michael Skwarok, a DATCP ash borer outreach specialist, speculated the infestation probably isn't linked to Ozaukee and Washington counties since they're on the other side of the state.

The beetle has been found in Illinois, and Interstate 94 runs north out of that state along Wisconsin's eastern edge, he said. Meanwhile, the Great River Road runs north out of Illinois along Wisconsin's southwestern border, Skwarok said.

Still, "we have no idea how it got there. We may never know," he said.

Minnesota agriculture officials estimate the state is home to some 900 million ash trees. They stepped up monitoring efforts on Tuesday. State inspectors traveled to Houston County, just across the Mississippi from Victory, to search for the bug.

They urged people not to move firewood within the state or buy firewood from out of state. They also asked people to look for signs of the beetle in their trees.

Victory also lies just across the Mississippi from Allamakee County, the most forested county in Iowa. State agriculture officials estimate the state is home to nearly 90 million ash trees.

They said Iowa State University teams will survey the high-risk areas for the beetle, such as campgrounds, nurseries and sawmills that might serve as entry points. Officials also plan to monitor stressed ash trees, which might attract the beetle first, and set out traps.