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Minnesotans challenged to control emerald ash borer Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Agri News staff writer
The emerald ash borer is in Minnesota and it's up to residents to slow its spread.
The goal of state agriculture officials is to slow the spread of the pest by a decade or more, giving researchers time to potentially discover effective biological controls or treatments to protect the state's more than 800 million ash trees.
Researchers in an USDA Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service laboratory in Brighton, Mich., are studying three non-stinging wasps from China that seek and kill emerald ash borer eggs and larvae. Small-scale releases were done in Michigan in 2007 and the wasps survived the winter, said Susan Lucik, public affairs specialist for USDA APHIS.
Lucik works exclusively on the emerald ash borer and is based in Michigan, where the borer was first discovered in 2002. It has since spread to 12 other states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is also found in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Minnesota residents are urged to not move firewood for fear it will transport emerald ash borer. It's a good practice to avoid moving firewood even in areas without a quarantine, said Mike Schommer, Minnesota Department of Agriculture communications director.
Moving firewood has the potential to move the pest hundreds of miles compared to the up to two miles it may fly in a year, Schommer said.
Watch for shiny green bugs on your vehicle. The pest infestation seems to follow the interstate highway system.
People should also watch their ash trees for die-back in the canopy or sprouting of sucker shoots. If these symptoms are present, rural residents should call the Arrest the Pest hotline at 1-888-545-6684.
"People want to do something," said Mike Reichenbach, University of Minnesota forestry educator.
He and Andrew David, a UofM forest genetics researcher, have begun a project to collect ash seeds from across the state of Minnesota in an effort to protect the genetic diversity of Minnesota ash trees.
Seeds from wild ash trees will be sent to a seed storage facility in Colorado for safe-keeping. Reichenbach encourages people to collect seeds from wild ash trees and submit them to David at the North Central Research and Outreach Center in Grand Rapids. |
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