Emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that damages ash trees, has been found in five new Wisconsin counties, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection said Tuesday (DATCP).
The new counties are Green Lake, Marinette, Waupaca, Waushara and Chippewa. All five will be quarantined.
The infestation in four of those counties was found in monitoring traps set up by the USDA-APHIS and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In Chippewa County, it was found by a homeowner on private property where trees were dying.
In Green Lake County, adult emerald ash borers (EAB) were found in traps in the Town of Green Lake along St. Marie Road and the Town of Brooklyn in Margaret Dodge Memorial Park.
Adult emerald ash borers were found in traps in three locations in Marinette County: Ridge Street in Niagara, County Road RR in Wagner, and South Hilbert Road in Goodman.
One adult EAB was found in a trap in Waupaca County in the right of way along County Road Q, just south of Highway 10 in Farmington. Another was found in a trap in Waushara County. That was located in Deerfield in the right of way along Beechnut Avenue, just west of County Road V.
“These new finds fill in the map for the southern two-thirds of the state, and add to the checkerboard of quarantined counties in the north,” said Brian Kuhn, Plant Industry Bureau Director with DATCP.
The quarantine means private citizens can't take firewood from quarantined counties to non-quarantined counties.
For businesses, it means they must work with DATCP if handling wood products that could carry EAB to make sure products are pest-free before shipping.
Kuhn also made the following recommendations for property owners in quarantine counties:
- Watch ash trees for signs of possible EAB infestation: Thinning in the canopy, D-shaped holes in the bark, new branches sprouting low on the trunk, cracked bark, and woodpeckers pulling at the bark to get to insect larvae beneath it.
- If your property is within 15 miles of a known infestation, consider preventive treatments. Whether to treat depends on several factors: the age of the trees, the size of the trees, and the number of trees. Treatment costs vary depending on size of the tree and whether you do the treatments yourself or hire a professional.
- Consider planting different species of trees that are not susceptible to EAB.
- Contact a professional arborist for expert advice, and visit emeraldashborer.wi.gov for detailed information.
Emerald ash borer has now been found in 46 of Wisconsin's 72 counties. The others are: Adams, Brown, Buffalo, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Door, Douglas, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Lafayette, Manitowoc, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oneida, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sawyer, Sheboygan, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Winnebago and Wood.
Kewaunee County is also under quarantine because of the proximity of infestations in neighboring counties.
