Entire County Now Under Quarantine for Moving Wood
By Ryan Schlehuber

The state's battle to slow the spread of the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) in St. Ignace and Moran has now been expanded to include the entire county of Mackinac. Also, this spring, a new weapon to attract and trap EAB will be introduced to infested areas in the Upper Peninsula.

The entire county is now under the state's EAB quarantine, which means more areas will be restricted from the movement of ash wood products and firewood of any kind. State officials are working with commercial loggers and mills in the Upper Peninsula to secure compliance agreements with Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) before timber is moved from Mackinac County.

The Asian beetle is responsible for destroying or damaging 25 million ash trees in the Midwest. The first discovery of EAB in the Upper Peninsula was in Brimley State Park in 2005, followed by the two discoveries in Mackinac County.

Apanel of researchers and scientists from the Michigan and federal departments of agriculture will meet in East Lansing Thursday, February 21, to discuss and compare data collected from infested sites at St. Ignace and Moran, where EAB was found in October.

During follow-up searches, 16 trees were found with EAB in Moran within a three-mile radius, and, so far, only one has been discovered in St. Ignace, at Straits State Park.

State researchers, assisted by Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University, completed data collection and test analysis at both sites in December.

"Eradication is no longer going to work with the situation in Moran," said MDA representative Jim Bowes, owing to it spreading farther and quicker than expected. "It is now considered a multi-year plan to reduce ash in the area, which will reduce the number of adult EAB."

What experts learn from the St. Ignace and Moran surveys could provide a model approach that will be used on a nationwide scale, Mr. Bowes said, owing to it being one of the first isolated infestations.

Much of the Lower Peninsula is affected.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing $2 million this year to the state's efforts in containing and slowing the spread of the insect, but requires the state implement control on a county wide basis, rather than community wide.

Movement of ash logs or lumber with bark, hardwood chips greater than one-inch, ash limbs, ash branches, and ash stumps are under strict quarantine. People who need to move non-infected hardwood out of the area can do so only with the permission of a regional inspector.

For the rest of the U.P., hardwood can be moved freely.

The MDA is stressing the importance of not moving any firewood.

"Basically, leave your firewood at home," said John Hill, MDA regional supervisor in Traverse City, who is overseeing the local surveys and the monitoring station at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge, which is in operation throughout the year. "Ninety-five percent of EAB spread has been caused by people moving infested firewood from one area to another."

Penalties for violating quarantine regulations range from a $1,000 fine with no jail time for unknowingly moving hardwood out of the quarantined zone to a $250,000 fine and 10 years in jail for moving infected wood with the goal of causing an infestation in another area.

Anyone who needs to move uninfected hardwood out of the quarantine area can call for an MDA inspection at (517) 373-1087.

State Hopes New EAB Weapon

Will "Stick"

A device to capture adult EAB on the move will be introduced to areas in the U.P. this spring and summer, which experts hope will prove more cost effective than removing ash trees.

The triangular device, called an artificial panel trap, works similarly to the sticky strips commonly used to catch flies.

The traps will be mounted on ash trees in wooded areas and are artificially baited with chemicals that mimic the living tissue in the innermost layer of ash tree bark, known as phloem. It is believed EAB is attracted to this phloem.

"The device has been used downstate to some degree, but it will be utilized much more in the U.P.," said Mr. Bowes. "It's an exciting opportunity."

So far, the only effective way to eradicate the insect from an area has been by removing all ash trees in a half-mile radius from the infected trees. It has been determined that a half mile is the farthest an adult ash borer will travel.

Federal funding has not been secured to remove the trees, however, and available funding will be a major factor in determining how much work can be done, said Mr. Bowes.