Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Ash Borer Confirmed in Bradley County

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (August 9, 2016) -- Randolph County has been added to confirmed sites of the emerald ash borer (EAB) - an invasive beetle that feeds on and kills ash trees.

Prior to 2016, EAB was confirmed in the following Arkansas counties: Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Columbia, Dallas, Hot Spring, Nevada Ouachita, Union, and Saline Counties.

An EAB quarantine was established in September of 2014 by the Arkansas State Plant Board. The 25-county area included in the quarantine encompassed counties with confirmed EAB sites, as well as buffer counties around those areas. The new confirmation in Randolph County is adjacent to a known infested county in Missouri, indicating that EAB naturally progressed from Missouri into Randolph County. An expansion of the quarantine area is possible, and will directly depend upon further EAB trap findings and a meeting of the Arkansas State Plant Board.


The goal of the current federal EAB quarantine is to limit the spread of EAB caused by long-distance movement of ash by humans. See the 25-county area affected by the EAB quarantine at the Arkansas State Plant Board website, here: http://plantboard.arkansas.gov/PlantIndustry/Documents/EAB_quarantine2016.jpg

Quarantined items (which cannot be transported outside of the quarantine area) include firewood of all hardwood species, and the following ash items: nursery stock; green lumber with bark attached; other material living, dead, cut or fallen including logs, pulpwood, stumps, roots, branches, mulch and composted/un-composted chips (1 inch or greater). Firewood is the only quarantined item that relates to all hardwood; all other quarantined items are relative to ash, only. Find comprehensive EAB quarantine regulations at the Arkansas State Plant Board website, here: http://plantboard.arkansas.gov/PlantIndustry/Documents/EAB%20Emergency%20Quarantine.pdf

The EAB is a small beetle (1/2 inch in size) that originated in Asia. The first EAB discovery took place in Michigan, over a decade ago. EAB infestation usually kills the ash host within 2-5 years of infestation.

For further quarantine details, contact the Arkansas State Plant Board at 501-225-1598 or email eab@aspb.ar.gov. 

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