09/30/2009

OSU Extension to Offer Free Program on Invasive Forest Pests

Writer:

Cory Skurdal
(614) 247-6046

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A free program being held at Ohio State University on October 17 will focus on two of the nation’s most destructive forest pests: the Emerald ash borer and the Asian long-horned beetle.

The program, sponsored by Ohio State University Extension’s Franklin County Master Gardeners and Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens, will be held from 10 a.m. until noon in 103 Kottman Hall on Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences campus, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus.

Paul Kanninen, plant protection and quarantine program officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will lead the program on the Asian long-horned beetle.

The Asian long-horned beetle was accidentally imported from China in 1996 and since then has killed thousands of trees and caused over $168 million in damage, removal and cleanup.

Damage from the Emerald ash borer is even more extensive, with nearly 30 million ash trees killed, damaged or removed. Steve Crawford, an Earth Team volunteer with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, will discuss the National Ash Seed Collection Initiative and demonstrate the collection process.

The National Ash Seed Collection Initiative collects and stores ash seeds in cryogenic vaults at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, CO. If the population of American ash trees is destroyed, the stored seeds will be the genetic base to re-establish ash.

For directions, log on to http://www.chadwickarboretum.osu.edu.