July - September, 2008
Emerald Ash Borer
The United States Department of Agriculture and the Missouri Department of Agriculture have placed Wayne County, Mo., under quarantine for material related to emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) until further notice.
Wayne County, where the EAB was found, is under quarantine as of September 3, 2008. Quarantined materials include the following:
- Ash nursery stock
- Any part of an ash tree, including green lumber, waste, compost, chips, etc.
- Firewood cut from any species of hardwood.
For more information about the quarantine or compliance agreements, contact the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Collin Wamsley at (573) 751-5505, or visit the Missouri Department of Agriculture web site at http://www.mda.mo.gov/ .
The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic green beetle native to Asia. Its larvae burrow into the bark of ash trees, causing trees to starve and die. In the summer of 2008, Missouri became the ninth state to have a confirmed emerald ash borer infestation. The pest was first found in Michigan in 2002. Since that time, eight other states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Virginia) have confirmed infestations. Missouri is the farthest south and west of any other known emerald ash borer infestation.
The emerald ash borer (EAB) trapping effort that revealed the infestation is part of a monitoring program started in 2004. It is Missouri’s contribution to a nation-wide early detection effort coordinated by USDA in partnership with the Missouri departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and the University of Missouri.
While EAB does not pose any direct risk to public health, it does threaten Missouri’s ash tree populations and may have a large economic impact. Ash trees make up approximately 3 percent of forests and up to 14 percent of street trees in Missouri. Since no ash trees in North America are known to be resistant to the pest, infestations are devastating to these tree species.
Economic Impacts
Using existing data from Forest Inventory and Analysis plots, Timber Product Output surveys, Timber Price Trend reports and the most recent street tree inventories, we can estimate the potential economic cost of this invasive species in Missouri. The economic impacts of EAB come in two flavors, the loss to the wood products industry as trees die or are quarantined, and the loss to communities as street trees die.
The annual impact to the wood products industry includes foregone payments to landowners and loggers, and the lost value added at the sawmill. In addition, these losses will lead to further effects throughout the economy, as landowners, loggers and mill operators have that much less to spend on other items.
Losses from affected street trees include the cost of removing the tree, its "landscape value" and the cost of replacing it. Landscape value is a catchall term that includes everything from a tree’s aesthetic value to its impact on property values and cooling costs.
Totally, these impacts statewide effect of EAB could be over $180 million in today’s dollars. If Missouri can contains the EAB to Wayne County, losses may be reduced to $1.7 million.
Clearly, Missouri has a lot to gain by keeping EAB within any possible quarantine area!
Source:Missouri Department of Conservation