BRIMLEY --
The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) announced it will have survey crews in the Brimley area working to determine the extent of an Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) infestation starting on Monday, April 5.
“The EAB survey will also show us the size and scope of the infestation in the Brimley area and will provide important information for landowners, communities, and property managers as they plan how to respond to the impending impact of EAB on their ash trees,” said Ken Rauscher, MDA’s Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division Director. “Residents in greater Brimley should expect to see us in that area throughout the summer as we complete the survey work.”
An EAB infestation was originally discovered in Brimley in the fall of 2005. Then, after three years of negative survey data, in October of 2009 MDA collected insects on a trap which was later confirmed as another infestation of EAB.
The adult beetles were found as part of a National EAB Survey program in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.). The National EAB Survey was completed, in part, through the work of U.P. conservation districts. MDA has since identified an ash tree infested with EAB in the area the trap was located.
Emerald Ash Borer is an exotic, aggressive beetle native to Asia and was discovered in southeast Michigan in 2002. To date, the pest is responsible for the death or damage of millions of ash trees in Michigan.
The Michigan EAB interior quarantine was revised on November 30, 2009 to include all of Chippewa County. It remains critical that ash materials and hardwood firewood not be removed from quarantined areas except under the guidelines of a state and/or federal compliance agreement.
For more information about EAB, including quarantine maps and other information, click on THIS LINK or CLICK HERE. You may also call the MDA EAB toll-free Hotline at 1-866-325-0023.
