FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 12, 2019
CONTACTS:
Emilie Inoue, State Pest Survey Coordinator
VT Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets
802-505-0217
Barbara Schultz, Forest Health Program Manager
VT Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
802-777-2082
Emerald Ash Borer Detected in Orleans County
Derby Line, Vt. - The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed that insects collected from ash trees in Derby Line, Vermont are emerald ash borers (EAB). This is the first detection in Orleans County. This invasive insect was first discovered in Vermont in February 2018, and has also been confirmed in Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Grand Isle, Orange and Washington counties.
Landowners and other residents of Derby and surrounding towns are urged to look for signs and symptoms of the insect and report suspicious findings on vtinvasives.org. Detailed information about the pest and what to look for may be found at the same website.
Based on tree symptoms, EAB had already spread to this location before it was first detected in Vermont last year. Although this is a new location in Vermont, the Coaticook and Memphremagog Regional County Municipalities, due north of Orleans County in Quebec, have been part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s EAB regulated area since January 2018. EAB is likely to be present in other locations within ten miles of known infestations. In addition to Derby, this area includes Newport City and Holland, and parts of Newport Town, Coventry, Charleston, Brownington, Morgan, and Norton.
Moving any infested material, especially ash firewood, logs, and pruning debris, can quickly expand the infestation, so it is critical Vermonters follow the ‘slow-the-spread’ recommendations, available at https://vtinvasives.org/land/emerald-ash-borer-vermont/slow-spread-of-eab. One important recommendation is to obtain firewood locally. If you’re going camping this summer, please leave your firewood at home. It is still illegal to bring untreated firewood from out of state into Vermont.
EAB larvae kill ash trees by tunneling under the bark and feeding on the part of the tree that moves water and sugars up and down the trunk. It was first discovered in North America in the Detroit area in 2002, and over the past seventeen years it has decimated ash populations. EAB is known to occur in 35 states and five Canadian provinces.
Find more EAB information at vtinvasives.org including:
- The current map of the infested zone
- How to identify ash trees
- Resources for homeowners, forest landowners, and municipalities
Photo caption/credit: EAB larvae kills ash trees by tunneling under the bark/Judy Rosovsky