For Immediate Release Contact:
Megan Arts Evans
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 410-507-7525 cell
maevans@dnr.state.md.us
DNR BANS IMPORATION OF FIREWOOD INTO DNR OWNED, MANAGED PROPERTIES
New DNR Policy Aimed At Stopping the Spread of the Emerald Ash Borer
ANNAPOLIS – With the busy Memorial Day weekend just days
away, both the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR)
Forest Service and Park Service today took active measures in the
state’s effort to stop the spread of the emerald ash borer
by introducing a new policy designed to prevent campers and other
visitors from bringing outside firewood onto all DNR owned or managed
properties. The Department will be notifying campers of the restriction
when reservations are made and by notices posted at the properties.
Both Park and Forest Service staffs will direct visitors to local
sources of firewood and require campers to immediately burn any
local firewood transported to a DNR property.
“The emerald ash borer is a non-native, invasive wood boring
insect that has the potential to devastate the ash tree population
and radically alter the forest composition of Maryland,” said
Maryland State Forester Steve Koehn. “It has been found in
parts of Maryland and nearby states and is spread most rapidly though
movement of infested wood products – most notably firewood.”
The beetle was introduced to Southern Prince George’s County
in 2003 after a Michigan nurseryman illegally shipped infested ash
trees in violation of a quarantine in that state. This winter, more
than 25,000 ash trees were removed from neighborhoods and forests
in a 21-square mile area near Clinton and Brandywine. A 3-year surveillance
program is already underway to determine if eradication efforts
have been successful.
Visitors to Maryland state lands will be asked if they have brought
firewood from home. If they have, they will be asked to burn it
as quickly as possible and asked not to bring it on their next visit.
Repeat violators may have their camping permit revoked.
“Our Maryland Park Service (MPS) personnel are ready to not
only enforce this policy, but to assist campers in finding alternative
sources of firewood,” said MPS Acting Superintendent Rusty
Ruszin. “It is paramount that we preserve the experience of
camping on wonderful properties, while protecting our natural resources.
I believe this new policy will allow us to do just that.”
The Maryland Park Service offers more than 2,000 campsites, 120
full-service and camper cabins, and 100 picnic shelters to guests.
Reservations for these facilities can be made through a toll-free,
reservation service by calling 1-888-432-2267, (8am - 8pm Monday
through Friday). Reservations can also be made online anytime at
http://reservations.dnr.state.md.us/.
It is important to note that the ban applies to all Maryland state
properties, and is not limited to State parks and forests.
News Release from the Maryland Department of
Agriculture
CONTACT: Sue duPont, 410-841-5889 Emerald
Ash Borer Public Meeting Scheduled to Explain Tree Removal Plans to
Residents Waldon Woods Elementary School in Clinton on Jan. 30
ANNAPOLIS, MD - Jan. 19, 2006 - A public meeting will be held at the
Waldon Woods Elementary School in Clinton, Prince George's County
to outline the emerald ash borer eradication plans. Of particular
importance is the impending ash tree removal in many Clinton and Brandywine-area
neighborhoods. The meeting also will include information about the
state quarantine that prohibits the transport of ash trees and wood
as well as all firewood out of Prince George's County.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 30 at 7:00 p.m. at the
Waldon Woods Elementary School, 10301 Thrift Road Clinton, MD 20735.
Some of the ways that residents can help prevent the spread of the
emerald ash borer are:
• Don't move firewood - buy it where you burn it. Hauling
firewood is the most common way for damaging plant pests to move
from one area to another. In addition, the state quarantine prohibits
anyone from moving hardwood firewood or any other ash tree materials
out of Prince George's County.
• Don't plant ash trees south of Rt. 4 in Prince George's
County. While people can still legally plant ash trees in other
parts of the county, alternate tree species are recommended for
residential landscaping.
• Report signs of the emerald ash borer to the University of Maryland
Home and Garden Information Center at 1-800-342-2507 or MDA at 410-841-5920.
Log on to www.emeraldashborer.info for information and descriptions
of the beetle and ash trees.
• Alert neighbors, friends and colleagues to do the same.
For information on the status of the emerald ash borer in Maryland,
including the quarantine please visit www.emeraldashborer.info
and click on the Maryland link. If you have any questions or would
like additional handouts for your neighbors, please contact the Maryland
Department of Agriculture at 410.841.5920.
News Release from
the Maryland Department of Agriculture
CONTACT: Sue duPont, 410-841-5889 Tree Removal to Eradicate the Emerald Ash Borer
is Underway in Brandywine/Clinton-Area Forests, Will Begin in Neighborhoods
Soon
Citizens Urged to Help Stop the Spread of the Beetle
ANNAPOLIS, MD (Jan. 16, 2007) - Ash trees in the forested
areas of the Clinton/Brandywine area of Prince George's County are
now being cut as part of the plan to eliminate the emerald ash borer
(Agrilus planipennis), an invasive beetle that kills ash trees. Area
residents can expect ash trees in neighborhoods within the infested
zone to be removed beginning in the next week or so. A third public
meeting is being planned to reach out to residents in the affected
areas before neighborhood tree cutting begins. Tree removal must be
completed by March 31, before the emerald ash borer emerges from the
trees.
"Efforts to eliminate the emerald ash borer before it can kill our
valuable ash trees and spread to other areas on the East Coast are
well underway," said Carol Holko, of the Maryland Department of Agriculture
and leader of the state's Emerald Ash Borer Eradication Project. "This
is a major cooperative effort among the state, county and federal
governments, conservation organizations and area residents that is
necessary because of the destruction the emerald ash borer could inflict
if it is not stopped now."
Eradication plans include the removal of all ash trees within a 1.5
mile zone around each ash tree found to be infested with the beetle,
the chipping of all cut trees to a size of less than one inch in any
two directions, a quarantine prohibiting people from moving any ash
wood and any hardwood firewood out of Prince George's County, and
three years of intensive surveillance to ensure no emerald ash borer
remain. It is estimated that eradication efforts will cost upwards
of $4 million in federal funding.
"While there is a quarantine to prevent the movement of ash wood and
hardwood firewood out of Prince George's County, stopping the beetle
will take more than regulations," said Holko. "Everyone can help by
being an ambassador: watch for and report symptoms, don't move ash
wood, don't plant new ash trees south of Rt. 4 in the county for now,
and spread the word about the emerald ash borer, the quarantine, and
the perils of moving hardwood firewood."
What is at stake if the emerald ash borer isn't stopped? - The emerald
ash borer is responsible for the destruction of some 25 million ash
trees in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois where it has become
established. In Maryland, ash is the most common street tree in Baltimore,
making up about 10 percent of total trees. Ash accounts for over three
percent of trees in naturally wooded area in Baltimore and surrounding
counties. USDA has estimated that losses could reach almost $300 million
in the Baltimore area alone. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources
also estimates that about 20 percent of our streamside trees, vital
to the health of the Chesapeake Bay, are ash trees. U.S. Department
of Agriculture estimates that at the national level, if the emerald
ash borer went unchecked in the lower 48 states, the undiscounted
loss could range from $20 - $60 billion dollars. Ash wood is used
for all traditional applications of hardwood from flooring and cabinets
to baseball bats.
The emerald ash borer threatens to kill all ash trees in Maryland
and ultimately the United States if not stopped. Maryland is the farthest,
and only non-contiguous, of the infested states. Many exotic pests
such as the emerald ash borer, which doesn't move much farther than
½ mile per year on its own, can be carried on infested wood by humans
hundreds and even thousands of miles to new areas.
For more information about the emerald ash borer and the Maryland
quarantine and eradication program, visit the national coordinated
emerald ash borer web site, www.emeraldashborer.info
and click on the "Maryland" link, or go directly to www.mda.state.md.us/plants-pests/eab.
To report signs of the emerald ash borer or to request further information,
contact the University of Maryland Home and Garden Information Center
at 800-342-2507 or the Maryland Department of Agriculture at 410-841-5920.
Emerald
Ash Borer Surveillance Detects the Presence of the Insect Regional
Survey and Response Plans are Being Implemented, No Ash Trees or
Hardwood Firewood May Enter or Leave Prince George's County
ANNAPOLIS, MD (August 22, 2006) - Maryland officials today confirmed
the presence of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) in ash
trees located in the Clinton/Brandywine area of southern Prince
George's County. The effected trees were discovered during survey
and eradication efforts begun after the detection of the insect
in Maryland in 2003, when a Michigan nurseryman shipped infested
trees into a Prince George's County nursery.
"While we are disappointed to find the emerald ash borer after nearly
three years of no detections, we are pleased that our surveillance
efforts have proven to be effective and that we found the insect
before it could spread further," said Agriculture Secretary Lewis
R. Riley. "Together with our federal, state, and local nursery partners,
we are beginning aggressive measures to control and eradicate this
destructive pest."
The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) today issued a Quarantine
Order (#06-01) that prohibits anyone from moving ash trees or any
hardwood firewood into or out of Prince Georges's County until further
notice. Over the next two months, the Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) and MDA will survey the area south of Rt. 4 to locate all
ash trees. The results of the survey will determine the necessary
course of action and scope of tree destruction and pest surveillance.
The accepted protocol used in Maryland and the other impacted states
is the removal and destruction of all ash trees in defined areas
followed by on-going surveillance.
This year Maryland is also restricting the movement of all hardwood
firewood into and out of Prince George's County.
"DNR foresters together with MDA are proactively following this
course of action to safeguard Maryland's trees on both private and
public lands, neighborhood trees and the nursery industry," said
DNR Secretary of C. Ronald Franks.
Since 2003, efforts to eradicate the insect included the collection
and destruction of all trees sent to Maryland from the Michigan
nurseryman, destruction of all ash trees within a ½ mile radius
of the introduction point, and three years of surveillance, which
produced no emerald ash borers until now. The insect, an exotic
pest from Asia, feeds on and kills ash trees in one to three years
after infestation.
The presence of the emerald ash borer typically goes undetected
until the trees show symptoms of being infested - usually the upper
third of a tree will thin and then die back. This is usually followed
by a large number of shoots or branches arising below the dead portions
of the trunk. Other symptoms of infestation include: D-shaped exit
holes in the bark where adults emerge, vertical splits in the bark,
and distinct serpentine-shaped tunnels beneath the bark in the cambium,
where larvae effectively stop food and water movement in the tree,
starving it to death.
Maryland's nursery and greenhouse industry accounts for $303 million
of the state's $1.4 billion agriculture industry. Ash is the most
common tree in Baltimore with approximately 293,000 trees and accounts
for about six million trees in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated losses could exceed
$227,568,000 in the Baltimore area alone if the emerald ash borer
were to become established.
FIREWOOD
ALERT!
Homeowners, Hunters, Campers, Scouts and Others...
Help Stop the Beetle
Don’t Pack Firewood
Buy it Where You Burn It
The emerald ash borer - an insect that was recently found in Prince
George’s County - is a major threat to millions of ash trees in Maryland
forests and neighborhoods. The emerald ash borer can be moved to new
areas on infested firewood. For these reasons, there is a quarantine
making it illegal to take ash products and any firewood out of the
County.
Don’t take firewood out of Prince George’s County-Use
local firewood.
Don’t plant ash trees south of Rt. 4 in the County.
Report signs of the emerald ash borer.
Alert your others to do the same.
Information: www.emeraldashborer.info
or 800-342-2507. View/print this
alert in pdf.
For more information about emerald ash borer, visit www.emeraldashborer.info
or call 800-342-2507 or 410-841-5920.
PUBLIC
MEETING NOTICE
The emerald ash borer - an insect recently found in Prince George’s
County - is a major threat to millions of ash trees in Maryland
forests and neighborhoods. To get rid of the insect permanently,
all ash trees around the affected trees near Clinton and Brandywine
must be removed. If you live in Prince George’s County - Especially
south of Rt. 4/Pennsylvania Avenue you will want to know: What is
the emerald ash borer? Where are the trees that must be removed?
Why can’t firewood be taken out of the county? What else must be
done to get rid of the insect? What you can do to help?
Meetings are: Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m.: Frederick Douglass
High School, 8000 Croom Road, Croom Thursday, Dec. 7, at 7:00 p.m.:
Surrattsville High School, 6101 Garden Dr., Clinton Information:
www.emeraldashborer.info 800-342-2507 or 410-841-5920.
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