OHIO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2003
Media Contact: Melanie Wilt, ODA Communications, 614-752-9817 

State Restricts Movement of Ash Trees and Wood Products from Whitehouse
Properties; Quarantine Aims to Prevent Further Spread of Invasive Species 

REYNOLDSBURG – Ohio Department of Agriculture announced today a quarantine to prevent the spread of an invasive species of ash destroying pest that was confirmed in Lucas County in February. The quarantine restricts residents from moving any trees, branches, firewood, or wood chips from four properties on Berkey-Southern Road near Whitehouse in Swanton Township. 

“We are taking swift action to keep this pest from infesting any more of the state’s valuable ash trees,” Ohio Agriculture Director Fred L. Dailey said. “We must contain the pest to a single area while we organize our resources to eradicate it before the adult hatches in the spring.” 

State regulations are in place to control and prevent the spread of a number of invasive species and plant diseases to protect the health of Ohio’s plants and prevent massive economic losses to the nursery, timber, and tourism industries and the communities they serve. The state is authorized by Ohio Revised Code Section 927.71 to issue a quarantine on the movement of all ash trees and timber in a given area. The ash quarantine was enacted after a survey was conducted in the area.  

Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an exotic pest from Asia that 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 are present only from mid May until late July. Larvae are creamy white in color. It will typically kill an ash tree in two to three years. 

Trees on all of the properties showed symptoms of infestation – die-back on the upper third of the tree, D-shaped exit holes in the bark where adults emerge, vertical splits in the bark, and distinct serpentine-shaped tunnels beneath the bark in the cambium, where larvae effectively cut off food and water to the tree, starving it to death. The borer is known to affect white, black, and green ash trees and some varieties of horticultural ash. Some healthy, non-stressed trees can fight off the pest, but Emerald Ash Borer infestations are fatal in most cases. There is no practical spray treatment for control of this pest. 

The Emerald Ash Borer has been known to exist in North America (Michigan and Ontario) for about the last five years, where it has killed millions of ash trees.  

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Note to Editor: See “Fact Sheet: Emerald Ash Borer Poses Economic, Environmental Threat to Ohio.”

More information on the Emerald Ash Borer, pictures of the pest and its destruction are available at www.state.oh.us/agr