Ash borer now identified in Polk County

The emerald ash borer has been positively identified for the first time in Polk County, state officials announced Friday.

Polk becomes the 22nd Iowa county with a confirmed infestation and the fourth county to be confirmed so far this year, said Robin Pruisner, state entomologist with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

The Polk County confirmation is based on the finding of an emerald ash borer larva in a residential tree in Urbandale and a larva in the process of transforming into an adult in a residential tree in West Des Moines, said Mike Kintner, the Iowa agriculture department's ash borer and gypsy moth coordinator.

'Both discoveries came as the result of arborists notifying state officials after observing signs of EAB damage,” Kintner said.

Officials with West Des Moines, Urbandale and Des Moines all said the discovery would not greatly affect their plans to deal with the tree-killing pest.

'We were moving forward as if it were here anyway,” said John Olds, urban forestry supervisor for West Des Moines.

Olds said the city has already removed 167 ash trees from city property and has another 43 scheduled for removal. The city also plans to initiate treatment on 578 city-owned ash trees, he said.

Jan Herke, Urbandale's director of parks and recreation, said the city removed more than 60 ash trees in the last year and will be treating some high-value ash trees.

Des Moines officials also have presumed the insect is already there, said Public Works Director Jonathan Geno.

In accordance with a plan established last summer, Geno said the city will treat its highest value ash trees in an attempt to preserve them while removing most of the untreated trees in the next three to four years.

A statewide quarantine, issued 15 months ago, remains in place, restricting the movement of hardwood firewood, ash logs, wood chips and ash tree nursery stock out of Iowa into non-quarantined areas of other states.

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