NEWS RELEASE l Ohio Department of Agriculture
Governor Bob Taft Lieutenant Governor Jennette B. Bradley Director Fred L. Dailey		Communications Office 8995 East Main Street • Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068 Phone: 614-752-9817 • Fax 614-466-7754 ODA URL: www.ohioagriculture.gov • e-mail: agri@agri.ohio.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 16, 2004

Media Contact: Melissa Brewer, EAB Communications, 614-728-6404

Agriculture Officials to Mark Ash Trees In and Around Oak Openings Metropark

REYNOLDSBURG – Ohio Department of Agriculture surveyors have begun work in Fulton and Lucas counties, marking ash trees within ½ mile of infestations located west of Oak Openings Metropark as part of its Emerald Ash Borer eradication program. The Emerald Ash Borer, an exotic pest from Asia that is lethal to ash trees, was identified there last spring.

Marked trees will be cut down as early as this fall. The state of Ohio is following the USDA Science Advisory Panel’s recommendation to remove all ash trees within ½ mile of known infestations. Ash trees that appear to be healthy also will be marked because they are a host for the pest and because first year infestations are nearly impossible to discover without cutting down the tree and removing the bark and cambium layer, department officials said.

The eradication program falls under the department’s authority in Ohio Revised Code Section 927.70 to control, eradicate, and prevent the spread of invasive species and to prevent massive economic losses to homeowners and the nursery, timber, and tourism industries. Quarantined areas currently include Hicksville Township in Defiance County; parts of Springfield Township and Monclova Township, and all of Swanton Township, in Lucas County; and parts of Fulton Township and Swan Creek Township in Fulton County.

Currently, there also is a USDA ban on the movement of ash trees, logs, and all firewood from Michigan into Ohio. The restricted movement slows the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer, which was first identified in Ohio in Lucas County in 2003 after being discovered in Michigan in 2002. To date, the pest has been identified in Defiance, Wood, Franklin, Lucas, and Fulton counties.

Ash trees infested with the Emerald Ash Borer will typically die in three to five years. The pest belongs to a group of insects known as metallic wood-boring beetles. Adults are dark metallic green in color, 1/2 inch in length and 1/16 inch wide, and fly only from mid-May until early August. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees, and when they emerge as adults, leave D-shaped exit holes in the bark about ¼ inch long.

Citizens can help by reporting signs of Emerald Ash Borer to the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s EAB Helpline at 888-OHIO-EAB or at www.ohioagriculture.gov. They should also refrain from moving ash trees, lumber, or firewood inside or beyond the borders of quarantined areas and call the department if they receive such items from those areas.

A public open house is being planned before eradication begins in and around Oak Openings Metropark to allow citizens to see eradication maps and ask questions of experts.

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