Natural Resources and the Environment

Natural Resources and the Environment

For More Information Contact:
Zachary Rinkes - Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator (rinkes.3@osu.edu)

Emerald Ash Borer is in Erie County

Here is emerald ash borer damage from Erie County: 

Here are some websites to keep you updated on EAB

http://ashalert.osu.edu

http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab/

AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES DETECTION OF EMERALD ASH BORER IN PENNSYLVANIA
HARRISBURG – Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive beetle that destroys ash trees, has been detected for the first time in Pennsylvania and a quarantine will be imposed for Butler, Lawrence, Allegheny and Beaver counties.

Adult beetles were found on an ash tree in Cranberry Township, Butler County, by U.S. Department of Agriculture surveyors, through a joint effort by federal and state agriculture departments, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Penn State Extension. The Emerald Ash Borer has forced similar quarantines in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland and Michigan.
“Emerald Ash Borer poses a major threat to ash trees,” said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. “To best manage any effects of an infestation, we’re working to determine whether this is an isolated incident or a more widespread problem.”

State and federal officials are conducting intensive surveys for the insect near the detection site. The quarantine is designed to help slow the spread of the beetle.

Pennsylvania’s quarantine restricts the movement from the quarantine area of ash nursery stock, green lumber and any other ash material, including logs, stumps, roots and branches, and all wood chips. Due to the difficulty in distinguishing between species of hardwood firewood, all hardwood firewood—including ash, oak, maple and hickory—are considered quarantined.

Since many species of wood-boring insects, including the Emerald Ash Borer, can be spread through transport of infested firewood and logs, campers and homeowners are encouraged to: use only locally harvested firewood; burn all of it on-site; and not carry it to new locations.
Emerald Ash Borer is a wood-boring beetle native to China and eastern Asia. The pest likely arrived in North America hidden in wood packing materials commonly used to ship consumer and other goods. It was first detected in July 2002 in southeastern Michigan and neighboring Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The beetle has since been blamed for the death and decline of more than 20 million ash trees in Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois.

Typically, Emerald Ash Borer will kill an ash tree within three years of the initial infestation. 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 holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.

People who suspect they have seen Emerald Ash Borer should call the department’s toll-free pest hotline at 1-866-253-7189. For more information about Emerald Ash Borer, visit http://www.emeraldashborer.info/ or call 717-772-5229.

Help for your Ponds:

Erie County has a plethora of ponds and pond questions are numerous in the Erie County Extension Office.  Here are some common questions:

Question:  What chemical can I use to control algae in my pond?

Answer:  OSU Extension has many factsheets to help control pond weeds.  Here are a few famous ones:

Chemical Control for Aquatic Weeds:  http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0004.html

Planktonic Algae in Ponds:  http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0009.html

Barley Straw for Controlling Algae:  http://www.btny.purdue.edu/Pubs/APM/APM-1-W.pdf

Question:  Why might fish die suddenly in a pond?

Answer:  Lots of reasons.  Here are a few:

Fish Kills in Ponds:  http://ohioline.osu.edu/b374/b374_10.html

Winter and Summer Fish Kills in Ponds:  http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0008.html

Question:  What are these amur everyone speaks about?

Answer:  Here you go!

Triploid White Amur For Ohio:  http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/7000/7001.html