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 25, 2004

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

Bob Knauff, Ohio State Highway Patrol, 614-466-3682

Sharon Lucik, U.S. Department of Agriculture, EAB Communications, 810-844-2713

Agriculture Officials Work With State Highway Patrol to Enforce Emerald Ash Borer Quarantines

REYNOLDSBURG – In an effort to stop the spread of Emerald Ash Borer, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol have partnered to monitor the transportation of lumber products and firewood through Ohio.

Officers from the Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit of the State Patrol will participate in training on Oct. 26, to recognize signs and symptoms of the Emerald Ash Borer, an exotic pest from Asia that kills ash trees and is a threat to Ohio's 3.8 billion ash trees. Participants will provide information to assist department officials in the enforcement of an Ohio quarantine that Governor Taft has placed on the movement of ash logs, firewood, and nursery stock from Michigan into Ohio. Signs have been posted near the Michigan-Ohio border to educate motorists on the issue.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Staff Lieutenant Bob Knauff explains, “Our officers already patrol the highway and check commercial vehicles for compliance to the federal motor carrier safety regulations. Now when we stop a truck carrying logs or wood we will be better equipped to recognize a potential risk for EAB and intervene.”

The shipping manifest, which commercial truck drivers are expected to produce when stopped by an officer, will provide valuable information regarding the shipment's point of origin, destination and whether state or federal quarantines apply. Violators face hefty state and federal fines.

Movement of the Emerald Ash Borer through the transport of logs, firewood or nursery stock greatly contributes to the spread of the insect. 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.

Citizens can help by reporting signs of the Emerald Ash Borer to the Ohio Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry at 888-OHIO-EAB.   For more information on detection and identification of the EAB or the state's quarantines, go to the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Web site, www.ohioagriculture.gov , and look under “Emerald Ash Borer.”

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