Ash borer fears lead to Allamakee County wood quarantine

A quarantine of wood products in Allamakee County was issued Monday in an effort to prevent the spread of the emerald ash borer.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has also filed a proposed amendment to the Iowa Administrative Code that would require that firewood sold or distributed in Iowa be identified by the country and state of origin.

“This quarantine is established to make sure that any ash products that leave Allamakee County do not spread this pest. And, since firewood has been the primary means of transporting the insect and starting new infestations, this rule change focuses on a key risk factor,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said.

State officials announced recently that an ash borer infestation had been confirmed along the Mississippi River two miles south of the Minnesota border in Allamakee County.

The regulated articles include ash borers at any living state; entire ash trees; firewood of any hardwood species; any cut or fallen material of the ash; non-heat treated ash lumber with either bark or sapwood attached; and hardwood wood or bark chips larger than one inch in two dimensions.

The quarantine orders that the regulated articles cannot be moved from Allamakee County unless a permit has been issued by either the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship or USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) or if the article has been treated to exterminate any pests under the supervision of USDA and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

A full copy of the quarantine can be found on the Department's website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov under the “Hot Topics” section.

To better track firewood, the Department has issued a Notice of Intended action to Amend Chapter 46 the Iowa Administrative Code, “Crop Pests,” to require that every package of firewood offered for sale, sold or distributed include the harvest location of the wood by county and state. The harvest location of wood sold in bulk must be included on the delivery ticket. The rules will become effective on January 1, 2011.

A copy of the Notice of Intended Action will also be available on the Department's website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov.

The emerald ash borer, a native of eastern Asia, and was detected in the United States near Detroit, Mich., in 2002. It kills all ash species by larval burrowing under the bark and eating the actively growing layers.

The metallic-green, half-inch-long adult beetles are are active from late May to early August.Signs of infestation include one-eighth inch D-shaped exit holes in ash tree bark and serpentine tunnels packed with sawdust under the bark. Tree symptoms of an infestation include crown thinning and dieback when first noticed, sprouting of new branches as insect damage progresses, and woodpecker feeding.

Iowa has an estimated 58 million rural ash trees and approximately 30 million more ash trees in urban areas.

This year ash borer team members are in the process of placing 1,800 purple traps at high-risk areas in the state, including in a 1.5 mile grid along the Mississippi River. The Department of Natural Resources also has 412 trap trees in the state this year, 12 of which are in Allamakee County.