Destructive Emerald Ash Borer Discovered in Montgomery County

ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 29, 2012) – The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has detected the invasive, highly destructive emerald ash borer (EAB) beetle in Montgomery County – the seventh county in the state to have a positive identification of the pest. Last summer, MDA concluded that the pest was likely present throughout the western shore and imposed a quarantine on all 14 counties west of the Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna River, making it illegal to move ash products to the Eastern Shore. MDA reminds residents and businesses that it remains illegal for anyone to move regulated EAB material to the Eastern Shore. Those materials include: all ash wood with the bark and sapwood remaining, ash nursery stock, all hardwood firewood, and hardwood chips larger than 1 inch in 2 dimensions.

Historically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has treated EAB quarantine areas (also called “regulatory areas”) in different states as individual quarantines, even if the adjoining states were also quarantined. Moving ash products from one area to the next required a federal permit. APHIS, however, has issued a Federal Order (or policy change), effective Sunday (July 1), that treats contiguous quarantine areas as a single quarantine area, even if it crosses state borders. This change in policy allows companies and people to move ash materials within the quarantine area, including across state lines, as long as the entire trip, from start to finish, remains within a contiguous federal quarantine boundary. If, at any point, the trip leaves a quarantine area, the shipment will need a permit. See the expanded quarantine area here:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/emerald_ash_b/downloads/eab_quarantine_map.pdf  Moving ash materials from a quarantined area to a location outside the quarantine area, like the Eastern Shore, may only be done with a properly issued federal certificate or limited permit.

(Note: There are some unique regulations affecting the movement of ash materials in Illinois and Indiana. Any company or person planning on moving ash products through those states should consult APHIS or those states regulations. Before moving ash products, companies and individuals should also check for and follow any relevant federal and/or state EAB quarantine regulations.)

“The ash tree is one of the most important urban trees in Maryland and an important woodland tree in the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “The emerald ash borer is destroying these trees all across the state. This new federal quarantine will make it easier for those in the nursery industry – our second largest agriculture sector – to move within the quarantine area more freely while still protecting those areas, like the Eastern Shore, that, as far as we can tell, are still free of the pest.”

Entomologists with MDA and USDA positively identified the pest in Charles, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel, Washington and Allegany counties before finding it in Montgomery County this month. The state quarantine is designed to protect the Eastern Shore ash trees from becoming infested.

MDA works closely with APHIS to manage the invasive EAB using the best science and tools available, with emphasis on activities that are most effective in stopping/slowing the spread of EAB to new areas. APHIS is modifying its policy to focus its regulatory efforts on the perimeter of quarantined areas. In Maryland those areas include the nine Eastern Shore counties, as well as St. Mary’s, Calvert, Anne Arundel, and Harford Counties. This will allow for the best use of available resources and reduce the complexity of the requirements for affected stakeholders.

EAB is an invasive wood-boring beetle, native to China and eastern Asia, which targets ash trees. EAB probably arrived in North America hidden in wood packing materials commonly used to ship consumer and other goods. It was first detected in the United States in July 2002 and has since been found in 15 states. It arrived in Maryland in 2003.

Everyday human activities can facilitate the spread of EAB and expand the extent and range of the infestation in North America. For this reason, MDA continues to encourage homeowners, campers, vacationers, and outdoor enthusiasts not to move firewood. The movement of untreated wood products made of ash has been found to advance the spread of EAB, which has been responsible for the death and decline of tens of millions of ash trees in the United States.

Last month, Governor Martin O’Malley Declared May 20-26 EAB Awareness Week while MDA began releasing biocontrol agents in Anne Arundel, Charles, Howard, Prince George’s, Washington and Allegany counties to help kill the invasive pest. For more information, see: www.mda.state.md.us/article.php?i=38919

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) designated April “Invasive Plant, Pest and Disease Awareness Month – the same month MDA began hanging EAB traps, which are used to track the movement of the invasive pest. For more information, see: www.mda.state.md.us/article.php?i=38651

For information about EAB in Maryland, see: www.mda.state.md.us/plants-pests/eab/

For more information on APHIS’s EAB program, see: visit www.aphis.usda.gov.