OHIO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2003
Media Contact: Melanie Wilt, ODA Communications, 614-752-9817 

Agriculture Department Expands Quarantine to Restrict Movement
of Ash Trees and Wood Products from Whitehouse Properties 

REYNOLDSBURG – The Ohio Department of Agriculture announced today that the March 13 quarantine it implemented to prevent the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive pest of ash trees that was confirmed in Lucas County in February, has been expanded to include a fifth property where the pest has been detected. The quarantine restricts residents from moving any ash trees, branches, firewood, or wood chips from a total of five properties on Berkey-Southern Road near Whitehouse in Swanton Township. 

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 927.70 to issue a quarantine on the movement of all ash trees and timber in a given area. The quarantine on ash trees was enacted after a survey was conducted in the area by the department.  

The quarantine was expanded based on the results of a survey of all ash trees within a ½ mile of the quarantine zone conducted March 17 and 18 by department officials to determine the extent of the infestation. About 3,000 total ash trees exist within ½ mile of the heavily wooded quarantine zone, and more than 90 percent of those are within ¼ mile of the quarantine zone. 

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 visible only from mid May until late July. Larvae are creamy white in color. The pest will typically kill an ash tree in two to three years. 

Trees on all of the properties showed tell-tale 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 was identified for the first time in North America (Michigan and Ontario) last summer. Experts believe it existed there for about five years before it was detected.  

-30-

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