Mahoning County added to E A B Quarantine

Ohio Agriculture Department Adds Mahoning County

to Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (June 21, 2007) ­ The Ohio Department of Agriculture today added Mahoning County to the list of Ohio’s Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) quarantined counties, after discovering the ash tree-killing insect in Springfield Township. The state’s quarantine, which is designed to slow the spread of EAB, prohibits the movement of ash trees, parts of an ash tree, and all hardwood firewood out of the county.

Department officials, after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen, discovered several infested ash trees at the service plaza on eastbound Interstate 76. This marks the state’s most eastern point of infestation, roughly four miles west of the Pennsylvania-Ohio border.

Officials will continue scouting the area to better assess the extent of the infestation. In the meantime, Mahoning County is now quarantined, making it illegal to take hardwood firewood and ash tree materials, which could harbor the pest, into neighboring uninfested counties. Violators face fines up to $4,000. It is also illegal to take these items out of the state of Ohio, per federal quarantine.

Firewood dealers, businesses, or woodlot owners interested in marketing and transporting ash trees or firewood out of quarantined areas can do so only with a department-approved compliance agreement. These agreements stipulate handling practices that mitigate the spread of EAB.

Since it was first discovered in Ohio in 2003, EAB has been identified in 29 counties: Allen, Auglaize, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Defiance, Erie, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Miami, Sandusky, Seneca, Ottawa, Paulding, Warren, Williams, Wood, and Wyandot counties. All or parts of these counties have been quarantined to stop the movement of firewood and ash logs, which are the largest contributors to the spread of EAB. For the latest quarantine map, go to www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab.

Ash trees infested with EAB typically die within five years. The pest belongs to a group of metallic wood-boring beetles. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly only from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees, and when they emerge as adults, leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.

For more information on the latest quarantine or firewood movement, call 1-888-OHIO-EAB.

Media Contact: Melissa Brewer, ODA Communications, 614-728-6404

Note to Editor: Officials will be available for photo-ops and interviews, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Call Melissa, 614-282-9652, for details and directions to the Service Plaza, eastbound I-76 at milepost 237.2.