Tri-State Outdoor News

New finds of the emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive forest insect that kills ash trees, has now been found in the Hoosier National Forest in Monroe County. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) entomologists discovered the pest in the Hardin Ridge Recreation Area located in Polk Township. The HNF infestation was detected through the joint DNR/ U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) survey. Although the survey used purple panel traps, this site was detected in a girdled ash trap tree.

The DNR, with assistance from the U.S. Forest Service, will conduct additional surveys around the site to determine the extent of the infestation. Infested trees will be cut down and the wood burned. Removal of the material still emaining will occur between the start of winter and April 15, when the EAB are under the tree bark.

Quarantine procedures are being implemented in Monroe County to help manage the spread of this pest. The quarantine regulates the movement of ash products, including ash nursery trees, ash logs and all types of hardwood firewood. Once the quarantine is implemented, it will not be legal to transport these items out of Polk Township without a compliance agreement provided by the DNR.\

The bright green insect is visible only during the summer. Symptoms of an infested ash tree include dieback of the leaves in the upper third of the canopy, vertical splits in the bark, Dshaped exit holes in the main trunk, S-shaped tunnels under the bark, increased woodpecker activity, and water sprouts at the base of the trunk.

Other new finds this past summer has also resulted in the following townships being quarantined: Hamblen Township in Brown County, Greenville Township in Floyd County, Plain Township in Kosciusko County, Jackson and Portage townships in Porter County, and Honey Creek Township in White County.

Because of these detections, some of which were the result of a statewide survey and trapping program, all of these townships and counties are now quarantined for regulated ash material and hardwood firewood that could spread the pest farther into Indiana.

EAB, first found in Indiana in 2004, has now been identified in 21 Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, Brown, DeKalb, Elkhart, Floyd, Hamilton, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Marion, Monroe, Noble, Porter, Randolph, St. Joseph, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, White and Whitley. People moving firewood, logs and nursery stock have been the main cause of spread.

The EAB surveys, part of which included the hanging of purple panel traps in trees around the state this past summer, were done as a cooperative effort of the Indiana DNR and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Robert E. Carter Jr., director of the DNR, declared the new quarantines on Nov. 10.

An EAB quarantine means that regulated ash material may be moved within the affected county but cannot be moved out of the county unless the shipper has entered a compliance agreement with the DNR or the material has been
mitigated so that it is incapable of spreading EAB. Regulated materials include the EAB in any living stage of development, any ash tree, limb, branch or debris of an ash tree of at least 1 inch in diameter, ash log or untreated ash lumber  ith bark attached, or cut firewood of any non-coniferous species.

“In addition to keeping an eye out for symptoms on ash trees, we continue emphasizing to citizens how important it is not to move firewood,” said Jodie Ellis, Purdue University entomology’s exotic insect education coordinator. “Most infestations are not a result of the natural movement of emerald ash borer, but rather because unsuspecting citizens have moved firewood.”

A unique situation exists in the northeast corner of Indiana, where 10 contiguous EAB-infested counties have been consolidated into one quarantine block. The following counties: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, and Whitley make up an area referred to as the Generally Infested Area.

Regulated ash material and hardwood firewood may be moved throughout the entire 10- county block, making life a little easier for persons living and businesses operating in the area. Although movement of regulated ash materials and hardwood firewood within this block of counties is allowed, the DNR recommends that ash products only be moved from September to April, when the EAB is inactive. State compliance agreements are still required during that time.

“EAB is not uniformly spread at damaging levels in the 10-county area and as such, still following the quarantine requirements will aid in slowing the spread and death of ash trees in the 10-county area,” said Phil Marshall, state ntomologist. In addition to the above 10 counties, Elkhart, Hamilton, Marion, Randolph and St. Joseph counties are also under quarantine from prior discoveries of EAB.

In addition to the state-level quarantines, all of Indiana is under a federal quarantine that prohibits moving regulated ash material across state lines at any point without a compliance agreement or permit from the USDA.

A compliance agreement can be applied for by contacting the DNR, Division of Entomology and Plant Pathology at (317) 232-4120. For a federal compliance agreement application, contact USDA, APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) at (765) 497-2859.

For more information on EAB, or to report an infestation, visit http://www.entm.purdue.edu/EAB/index.shtml or call Indiana DNR’s toll-free hotline at 1-866-NO EXOTIC (663-9684). To view the EAB Rule and EAB quarantine declaration visit: http://www.in.gov/dnr/entomolo/.