EAB Survey Begins Next Week Near State Park
By Ryan Schlehuber

State biologist Bill Cook explains the biology of the emerald ash borer to around 40 St. Ignace residents at Little Bear East Arena and Community Center Monday, November 19. The Michigan Department of Agriculture called the hearing after the Asian beetle, which has destroyed millions of ash trees across the Midwest, was found in St. Ignace October 30 at Straits State Park.

A survey of ash trees in St. Ignace will begin next week, following discovery of a the emerald ash borer (EAB) infecting a tree in Straits State Park late last month. Biologists, who hope to keep the foreign invader out of the Upper Peninsula, met with about 40 citizens Monday evening, November 19, to outline the dangers and the precautions they are taking in St. Ignace.

The meeting's panel included Jim Bowes of the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and lead spokesman for the eradication of EAB, John Hill, regional MDA supervisor for the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, Bill Cook, forester and EAB biology expert for Michigan State University Extension, and Sue Bagley, site leader for the eradication of EAB in Moran and St. Ignace.

An ash tree in the state park was found to have been infested with EAB October 30, the third discovery in the U.P. Earlier in October, EAB was found in Moran. The first case of EAB was discovered in Brimley State Park in 2005.

The movement of firewood from travelers downstate is said to be the cause of EAB's presence in the U.P.

EAB, an aggressive Asian beetle, has destroyed or damaged 25 million ash trees throughout the Midwest, eastern states, and Ontario. Efforts to prevent the spread of EAB-infested firewood north over the Mackinac Bridge have been intensive, following the discovery of EAB in Michigan in 2002.

Mr. Hill explained that a group of researchers will begin to scour the area around Straits State Park to identify neighboring ash trees and trees most susceptible to EAB. The iridescent emerald beetle, no bigger than a penny, is attracted to stressed or injured ash trees, said Mr. Cook, however, researchers have yet to figure out why.

Starting next week, researchers will set up a one-mile and halfmile radius grid system around where the infested tree in the park was found.

Within the half-mile radius, researchers will seek out ash trees and sample one in every 2.5-acre plots, meaning the tree will be cut down and carefully dissected. Within a mile's radius, one tree for every three 2.5-acre plots will be sampled.

MDA is being assisted by students and professors from Michigan Technological University, who are monitoring the detection trees in the forests. Michigan State University is also assisting studies in the laboratory.

Mr. Hill explained the survey will stay within the city limits until hunting season is over. They also plan to reconvene the survey in Moran after hunting season. That survey is almost complete, he said, and, so far, no other cases of EAB have been found.

Mr. Hill said there are 4,000 detection trees in the Upper Peninsula and 75% of them have been studied and monitored for EAB.

EAB larvae burrow into the bark of ash trees and create galleries underneath. As they grow, they create bigger galleries, literally choking the tree to death as water circulation is cut off, explained Mr. Cook.

Michigan is home to 700 million ash trees, with black ash flourishing in wetlands. Mr. Hill said if EAB begins to attack ash trees in wetlands, they will be dramatically changed and wildlife there will be impacted.

"It took 10 to 15 years after it arrived until we identified it in America," said Mr. Cook of the beetle. "There is not a lot of information on EAB, and there is not a whole lot of literature on it (overseas) because it is innocuous. Everything we knew about it fit on one page."

Today, focus, resources, and funding through the state's Pesticide and Plant Management Division have been aimed at finding ways to eradicate EAB.

At Monday's hearing, MDA experts informed the public about the biology of the beetle, its impact on Michigan forests and economy, and discussed how it plans to eradicate EAB from the Upper Peninsula, stressing that available funding will be a major factor in the extent of work that can be done.

Mackinac County's Extension office is providing information to those residents in the survey zone. It can be obtained by calling Extension Director Michelle Walk at 643-7307. Other information is available online at www.emeraldashborer. info.