USDA EXPANDS EMERALD ASH BORER QUARANTINE
IN ILLINOIS, INDIANA AND OHIO
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2006--The U. S. Department of Agriculture’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced the
expansion of its emerald ash borer (EAB) quarantine to include the
entire states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, more than doubling
the previously quarantined area which includes the entire lower
peninsula of Michigan. The new quarantine becomes effective on
Dec. 1 following the issuance of a federal order.
To date, USDA has spent more
than $100 million on research, eradication and reforestation
efforts. USDA estimates that if EAB is not contained or
eradicated, it has the potential to cost state and local
governments approximately $7 billion over the next 25 years to
remove and replace dead and dying ash trees that can pose a safety
hazard in urban and suburban areas.
The federal order restricts the interstate movement of regulated
articles that originate within the quarantine area. Regulated
articles include ash nursery stock and green lumber; any other ash
material including logs, stumps, roots, branches, as well as
composted and uncomposted wood chips. Due to the difficulty in
distinguishing between species of hardwood firewood, all hardwood
firewood, including ash, oak, maple and hickory are regulated
articles.
The complete article can be
located here:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/content/2006/11/eab_fed_order.shtml
Further information is listed at
the
Ohio Department of Agriculture Web site
