An invasive insect could wipe out the trees at the park.
EMPIRE (AP) -- An invasive insect may wipe out the ash trees at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Superintendent Dusty Shultz says the emerald ash borer has infested up to 90 percent of the ash trees on the lakeshore's mainland in the northwestern Lower Peninsula.
She says the first case was discovered in June and the tree-killing pest has spread rapidly. Shultz says lakeshore officials are considering their options to try to control the ash borer, but the outlook is bleak.
Emerald ash borer is believed to have arrived from Asia in wooden packing material. It was first detected in the Detroit area in 2002 and has spread to 13 states.
Officials believe 80 percent of the infestations in Michigan resulted from people moving firewood, despite warnings against it.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore won the title of "Good Morning America's" Most Beautiful Place in America in August..
Tens of thousands of viewers voted online for the park, which Good Morning America is calling one of the nation's best-kept secrets.
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
