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

October 28, 2004

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

Ohio Ag Department Expands Regulated Areas in Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine

REYNOLDSBURG – Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred Dailey today announced the expansion of a regulated area, as part of an existing state quarantine, to prevent the further spread of Emerald Ash Borer, a destructive exotic pest from Asia.

The quarantine now restricts residents from moving ash trees, branches, firewood, or wood chips out of the following areas: Lucas County northwest of the Maumee River; Fulton County east of State Route 109; and Henry County east of State Route 109 and north of the Maumee River.

Violators of the quarantine could be fined up to $4,000.

Though ash firewood is the only firewood named in the quarantine, Dailey is asking every citizen to refrain from moving unidentified firewood from these areas and throughout the state because it could contain ash. Campers should be aware of firewood restrictions and should plan to purchase firewood from local sources.

“We are asking the public to become part of the solution by obeying quarantines to help stop the spread of Emerald Ash Borer,” Dailey said. “The expanded area will prevent the artificial spread of this pest from a region with known infestations. This is particularly important as colder months approach and people begin moving firewood.”

Currently, all citizens are restricted from moving ash firewood and ash materials out of the newly expanded regulated area and out of Hicksville Township in Defiance County, an already existing regulated area. An Ohio ban also prohibits the movement of ash firewood and ash materials from Michigan into Ohio. Ash materials, including firewood for burning, can enter any of these regulated areas, but once taken in, they cannot leave.

To date, Emerald Ash Borer infestations have been identified in Defiance, Franklin, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Wood counties . The pest was first identified in Ohio in Lucas County in 2003.

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 1/8 inch wide, and fly only from early May until September. 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 1/8 inch wide.

For more information on Emerald Ash Borer or for a map of Ohio's quarantine areas, go to the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Web site, www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab , or call 888-OHIO-EAB.

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