Survey Results, New Strategies To Be Focus of EAB Meeting
By Ryan Schlehuber

Researchers across the country will be looking to St. Ignace and Moran, where new strategies will be implemented to stop the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) this spring and summer. Those strategies, including local survey results and quarantine regulations, will be discussed by scientists at a public meeting Monday, April 7, at 7 p.m. at Little Bear East Conference Center in St. Ignace.

EAB, which has decimated ash trees in the Midwest, was first discovered in the Upper Peninsula at Brimley State Park in 2005, and in Moran and St. Ignace in October 2007. Sixteen trees have been found to be infested.

Eradicating the Asian beetle by clearing ash trees in a three-mile radius from the point of discovery has not proven efficient, except in Brimley, the only area in the country that has not had any more infestation since the first eradication effort, said Jim Bowes of the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

"Brimley is our one shining example" of the effectiveness of the method, he said, "but eradication is not going to happen in either St. Ignace or Moran. So if not eradication, then what is our approach? It's to slow down the spread and allow science and research to catch up to the pest."

A panel of state and federal scientists met in East Lansing February 21, discussing and comparing data collected from St. Ignace and Moran. State researchers, assisted by Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University, collected data and analyzed tests at both sites in December.

Because of the geographical isolation from other infested areas, St. Ignace and Moran make for a good testing ground for new containment strategies, said Mr. Bowes. Much of the Lower Peninsula is infested with EAB.

"That's why everyone in the country will be watching closely at St. Ignace and Moran," he said. "Unfortunately, the U.P. has EAB, but it is exciting because it will be the test ground for the entire country."

At the April 7 meeting, residents and property owners will hear what experts have determined with the survey information and what new approaches will be made to curb the impact of the Emerald Ash Borer. The insect's only predator is the woodpecker.

Restrictions on moving wood in Mackinac County will also be discussed.

One strategy to be introduced April 7 uses a purple, sticky trap, several of which will be hung from trees in the Eastern Upper Peninsula forests, to lure the pests. Along with using the traps, removal of ash trees in infected or potentially infected areas will still be encouraged, Mr. Bowes said.

"We'll be treating trees for more biological control with the pest, but we'll also encourage the removal of ash trees near roadways and rights-of-way, for example, to prevent the spreading of EAB and to avoid public hazards," Mr. Bowes said, if the trees were to become infected and die, falling onto pathways.

Preventing the spread of EAB still depends heavily on travelers and residents, who can facilitate its spread by transporting infested ash firewood.

"It's going to take everyone to help not spread EAB," he said. "EAB is here and we all have to find how to live with it."