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Entering Camping Season Iowa Officials Ask for Help Protecting Our Trees by Not Moving Firewood
DES MOINES - As summer camping season gets ready to enter full swing, members of the Iowa Emerald Ash Borer Team reminded Iowans of the importance of not moving firewood, as it can carry invasive pests, such as the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), that threaten the health of the state's trees. EAB, an invasive beetle that feeds on ash trees and eventually kills them, is the most eminent threat. A new infestation was recently found near Victory, Wis., on the east bank of the Mississippi River, less than one mile from Allamakee County, in northeast Iowa. The movement of out-of-state firewood to and through Iowa poses the greatest threat to spread EAB. Areas currently infested are under federal and state quarantines, but unknowing campers or others who transport firewood can spark an outbreak. Campers are encouraged to definitely not bring firewood from out of state. Staff with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) State Parks will have identified where campers may purchase firewood locally. The Iowa Emerald Ash Borer Team includes officials from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension and the Iowa DNR, USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the USDA Forest Service. To learn more about EAB and other pests that are threatening Iowa's tree population please visit www.IowaTreePests.com. "Emerald Ash Borer and other pests have the potential to do significant damage to our state's trees, but by burning firewood where you buy it you can make sure you aren't helping bring these pests into new, previously uninfested areas," Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said. The Emerald Ash Borer is native to the Orient, and was introduced in the United States near Detroit, Mich. in the 1990s. Although not yet found in Iowa, EAB has more potential for future harm to Iowa forests and urban communities than any other insect currently being dealt with in the United States. EAB kills all ash (Fraxinus) species by larval burrowing under the bark and eating the actively growing (cambium) layers of the trees. EAB has been killing trees of various sizes in neighborhoods and woodlands. Ash is one of the most abundant native tree species in North America, and has been heavily planted as a landscape tree in yards and other urban areas. According to recent sources, Iowa has an estimated 58 million rural ash trees and approximately 30 more million urban ash trees. Each member of the Iowa Emerald Ash Borer Team is taking steps to monitor Iowa's ash trees and ensure that the beetle has not spread into Iowa by examining high risk sites. The Iowa EAB team has defined high risk sites as locations where people would bring out-of state wood, such as campgrounds, nurseries and sawmills. Monitoring efforts include visual surveys at high risk sites by Iowa State University, DNR's placement of sentinel ash trees that are intentionally stressed so that they are more attractive to EAB, and the placement of purple sticky traps around the state that attracts and traps the insect by a collaborative effort among APHIS and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. For more information on EAB and other invasive pests threatening Iowa's trees, Iowans can contact:
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