eab-nr-twoadditionallocationsToledo-101904.stm

	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

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (February 14, 2005) – Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred L. Dailey today announced the expansion of regulated areas, as part of an existing state quarantine, to prevent the further spread of Emerald Ash Borer, a destructive exotic pest from Asia.

The newly expanded areas now restrict residents from moving ash trees, branches, wood chips, bark, and non-coniferous firewood out of:

• All of Lucas County west of County Road 202 and the part of Lake Township (Wood

County) east of Tracy Road and north of State Route 795. This expansion is contiguous

“We expanded the regulated areas in both Lucas and Wood counties to ensure containment of this destructive pest by prohibiting the movement of ash materials out of known infested areas,” Dailey said. “We are aggressively eradicating Emerald Ash Borer from these locales but cannot do it alone. We’re asking residents to assist us in our efforts by obeying the quarantines and not moving ash material or firewood.”

All citizens are restricted from moving ash materials and non-coniferous firewood out of the newly expanded regulated area and out of already existing regulated areas: Hicksville Township in Defiance County; and Fulton County east of State Route 109 and Henry County east of State Route 109 and north of the Maumee River. An Ohio ban also prohibits the movement of ash firewood and non-coniferous firewood from Michigan into Ohio. Ash materials can enter any of these regulated areas, from Ohio’s non-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. Since then, the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) has eradicated the pest from Franklin County and continues to eradicate and regulate in the additional five counties.

Currently, the department is eradicating infestation sites in and around Oregon/east Toledo in Lucas County, North Baltimore in Wood County, and Pioneer in Williams County (cooperative eradication for a Michigan infestation). In these areas, ODA officials conduct continuous Emerald Ash Borer survey work to determine the extent of infestation.

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 regulated areas, go to the department’s Web site, www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab, or call 888-OHIO-EAB.

NEWS RELEASE l Ohio Department of Agriculture

Communications Office