By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
It really was just a matter of time. Unfortunately, that time is now.
The feared Emerald Ash Borer is now making its presence felt in southeast Wisconsin.
Already confirmed in Racine County, in recent weeks the invasive species popped up in Mukwonago, Janesville, Lake Geneva, at the Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Kenosha County and in numerous other locations in southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
The area is now under attack by a predator that knows no natural enemy. The Emerald Ash Borer joins a list of invasive species that include the Zebra Mussel, Garlic Mustard, the Eurasian Milfoil, Japanese Beetles and more.
“They’re all things that don’t belong here,” said Mick Skwarok, a Plant, Pest and Disease Specialist with Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. DATCP is the lead agency on abatement of the Emerald Ash Borer.
“Because they’re not natural, they have no natural predators,” said Skwarok. “(EAB) is another in a long line of species we’re trying to get our arms around. This one’s going to be pretty difficult.”
The Emerald Ash Borer did not exist in North America prior to 2002, according to the website http://www.emeraldashborer.info. The site is a national clearinghouse of information on the Emerald Ash Borer, which is now found in 18 states in the United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
It is believed the borer arrived in North America embedded in ash wood used for stabilizing cargo in ships or utilized in the packing or crating for heavy consumer products. Its natural range is eastern Russia, northern China, Japan, and Korea.
According to DATCP the borer was first discovered in Wisconsin in 2008 in the community of Newburg, which is northeast of West Bend. West Bend is roughly 40 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
As an adult the borer sports a dark, metallic green color. At that point it is roughly half an inch long and one-eighth of an inch in width.
The damage the borer inflicts is considerable. In the simplest of terms the borer lays eggs, or larvae, in the tree, damaging the bark of the ash. At that point the tree is compromised and begins to die from the top down.
According to http://www.emeraldashborer.info the borer attacks only ash trees, and all species of North American ash trees are at risk.
Skwarok said DATCP examines two different areas when it comes to borer abatement. Urban areas, which include primarily landscape trees, are examined. DATCP also examines forests.
“In the forest areas, there’s not a lot that can be done to slow down (EAB) as it spreads on its own,” Skwarok said.
Skwarok said the forest areas merit more concern. The movement of firewood is a culprit in the spread of the borer.
“Firewood spreads this thing hundreds of miles in an afternoon,” Skwarok said. “On its own it might move half a mile in a year.”
According to DATCP acceptable firewood in Wisconsin is harvested in Wisconsin and purchased within 25 miles of a state forest, park or other state-managed property.
However, the firewood must not be purchased, harvested or stored in, or transported through, a quarantined county of Wisconsin, which include Brown, Crawford, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Vernon, Washington and Waukesha counties.
Skwarok said the march of the borer is relentless. Some chemicals are known to treat trees and prevent the spread of the borer.
The only widespread effort, on the part of the state, to combat the borer is the release of Parisatoid Wasps in the Newburg area.
The wasps are stingless and, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, roughly the size of a grain of rice.
As innocuous as the wasps might sound, they bring flying death to the borer. The wasps lay their eggs in the larvae of the borer.
Several species of wasps were released in the Newburg area in the spring of 2011.
“They could potentially do an awfully good job controlling the (EAB),” Skwarok said. “We’re too early in the experiment to see if it’s having positive or negative results.”
More information about the Emerald Ash Borer in Wisconsin is available at http://datcpservices.wisconsin.gov/eab/index.jsp.
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