05/11/2007

Emerald Ash Borer Workshops in Cuyahoga Co. May 16-17

Writer:

Mauricio Espinoza
espinoza.15@osu.edu
(330) 202-3550

Source:

Amy Stone, OSU Extension
stonea@postoffice.ag.ohio-state.edu
(419) 578-6783

WOOSTER, Ohio — Northeast Ohio citizens, municipalities and representatives of the green and forest industries will have several chances to learn about emerald ash borer (EAB), a voracious killer of ash trees, May 16-17 at two Cuyahoga County locations.

An invasive insect from Asia, EAB has been found in Cuyahoga and other neighboring counties.

Experts from Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will provide information about the invasive insect, backyard detection, quarantine issues, and local woodlot and landscape management options. Area businesses dealing with trees or tree products and local citizens should plan to attend one of two workshops:

—East Cuyahoga County: Wednesday, May 16, Mayfield Village Civic Hall, 6622 Wilson Mills Road, Mayfield Village. Industry representatives should attend from 2-4 p.m.; the general public should attend the 7-9 p.m. program.

—West Cuyahoga County: Thursday, May 17, Walter Ehrnflet Center, 18100 Royalton Road, Strongsville. Industry representatives should attend from 2-4 p.m.; the general public should attend the 7-9 p.m. program.

EAB, which threatens Ohio’s 5 billion ash trees and related industries, has been identified in 26 counties. Citizens play an important role in detecting and slowing the spread of this devastating pest by not moving firewood and ash tree materials out of quarantined areas in Auglaize, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Defiance, Erie, Franklin, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Miami, Sandusky, Seneca, Ottawa, Paulding, Warren, Williams, Wood, and Wyandot counties.

Maps of Ohio’s quarantined areas are available at http://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 exit holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.

For more information, log on to http://ashalert.osu.edu or call (888) OHIO-EAB.

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