Waupaca County firewood quarantined

The emerald ash borer has been confirmed in five new Wisconsin counties, including Waupaca and Waushara.

A homeowner discovered the Chippewa County infestation on private property where trees were dying. The other four were finds in monitoring traps set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state Department of Natural Resources.

“These new finds fill in the map for the southern two-thirds of the state and add to the checkerboard of quarantined counties in the north,” said Brian Kuhn, plant industry bureau director with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection.

All five counties are now quarantined, which means private citizens cannot take firewood from quarantined counties to nonquarantined counties. Businesses that handle wood products that could carry the insect must work with the DATCP to assure that their products are pest-free before shipping.

“Many of the quarantined counties are not generally infested,” Kuhn said. “This is a pest that’s largely been spread by humans. People still need to use certified firewood that has been treated or seasoned to ensure it’s not infested with live pests.

“If they use uncertified firewood, they should burn it where they buy it and not move it even within quarantined areas,” he said. “That will help slow the spread of EAB and the many other pests that firewood could carry.”

Waupaca County’s adult EAB turned up in a trap along County Trunk Q, just south of U.S. Highway 10, in the town of Farmington. Another adult showed up in a trap along Beechnut Avenue, just west of County Trunk V, in the town of Deerfield in Waushara County.

Two of the invasive insects were trapped in separate locations in Green Lake County: along St. Marie Road just north of State Highway 23 in the town of Green Lake and in Margaret Dodge Memorial Park in the town of Brooklyn.

DNR staff collected immature insects after a Lake Wissota homeowner in the town of Lafayette reported dying trees. The infestation appears to have been present for several years.

Marinette County reported three adult EABs on Ridge Street in Niagara, along County Trunk RR in the town of Wagner and on South Hilbert Road in the town of Goodman.

Kuhn has the following recommendations for property owners in quarantined counties:

• Watch ash trees for signs of possible EAB infestation, including thinning in the canopy, D-shaped holes in the bark, new branches sprouting low on the trunk, cracked bark and woodpeckers pulling at bark to get to insect larvae beneath it.

“If your property is within 15 miles of a known infestation, consider preventive treatments,” Kuhn said. “Whether to treat depends on several factors: the age of the trees, the size of the trees and the number of trees. Treatment costs vary depending on size of the tree and whether you do the treatments yourself or hire a professional.”

• Consider planting different species of trees that are not susceptible to EAB.

• Contact a professional arborist for expert advice and visit emeraldashborer.wi.gov for detailed information.

The emerald ash borer is native to China and probably entered the United States on packing material, showing up first in Michigan in 2002. It was first found in Wisconsin in 2008 in Washington County.

The 41 other Wisconsin counties where EAB has been found are Adams, Brown, Buffalo, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Door, Douglas, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Lafayette, Manitowoc, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oneida, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sawyer, Sheboygan, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Winnebago and Wood.

Kewaunee County is also under quarantine because of the proximity of infestations in neighboring counties.