Released April 15, 2009
BROOKINGS, S.D. -- The emerald ash borer is only one state away from South Dakota’s borders, a South Dakota State University specialist said.
South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service Forestry Specialist John Ball said an infestation was found in western Wisconsin, about 20 miles south of La Crosse, near the border with Minnesota and Iowa.
The insect devastates ash tree populations. The emerald ash borer became established in southeastern Michigan in the 1990s. Foresters believe it may have arrived on ash packing materials from Asia. It has caused the loss of more than 30 million ash trees in the Upper Midwest so far.
“This is the farthest west an infestation has been detected in our region,” Ball said. “Considering its size and the distance from other infestations, it raises the concern that there may be, and most likely are, undetected infestations even farther west.”
Ball said there is a possibility that South Dakota already has an infestation though none has been detected at this time. The insect could be particularly hard on South Dakota. Ball and forestry colleagues around the state reported in a 2007 research paper that green ash trees make up 35.3 percent of the street trees in 34 South Dakota communities surveyed — very possibly a larger percentage than in any other state.
“It is probably only a matter of time, a rather short time, perhaps a year or two, before an infestation will be detected in South Dakota. When it is found, most likely it will have been established in the general vicinity for several years or more. No one ever finds the first borer in the first tree in a state. It is critical that people be observant of pockets of dead and dying ash and report these as soon as possible.”
Although there are only limited means of preventing the insect from entering the state, foresters can at least slow its further spread once it is discovered. That buys time for producers, homeowners and communities to plant different tree species. That can reduce the impact when the beetles eventually arrive.
One common means of identifying new pockets of infested ash is to look for dead or dying ash with extensive bark injury from woodpeckers. These birds are feeding on the larvae of the insect, Ball said.
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http://agbionews.sdstate.edu/story.cfm?id=4691
Contact: Lance Nixon, (605) 688-4653, Lance.Nixon@sdstate.edu
