Jonathan Lelito (USDA APHIS PPQ) also describes the emerging national biological control program currently being undertaken by USDA APHIS.  ASETS researchers are currently funded to work on aspects of both the management of ash mortality and the biological control of this forest pest. Visit our project profiles of both SLAM (Slowing Ash Mortality) and MapBioControl.

This video was produced by the MSU Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.

• Tracking EAB Parasitoids
• Hopeful Emerald Ash Borer News
• emeraldashborer: What’s That Pink Dot? Oak Forest, IL, Marks Trees Infested with Emerald Ash Borer for Removal: http://t.co/RjpVxYpC

Gabriel and Travis are doing their usual excellent job.

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• Invasive eelgrass doesn't follow the usual invader's script – KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest
• An Update For Geodata.gov/GOS Publishers About Data.gov

• Emerald Ash Borer Most Destructive Forest Pest
• Understanding the Life Cycle of the Emerald Ash Borer
• Hopeful Emerald Ash Borer News

GeTac Master

Let the setup of the GeTac units for the SLAM project begin!

Travis Perkins begins the process of assembling the GeTac field kits for distribution to the three SLAM project sites.

We first had to charge the 25 units and that took all the strip outlets we could borrow.

Then it was onto the assembly line:

1. Unpack
2. Cut foam for case
3. Label all parts
4. Insert SD card
5. Attach stylus wrist strap
6. Configure wireless
7. Install ArcMoblie
8. Download SLAM project data
9. Test
10. REPEAT 24 Times

• Hopeful Emerald Ash Borer News
• Emerald Ash Borer in Tennessee
• Asian clam clearing begins in Lake George – Glens Falls Post-Star

Deb McCullough

Deb McCullough has hopeful news on the emerald ash borer front. She was recently interviewed by Kirk Heinze for the Greening of the Great Lakes talk radio show on News/Talk 760 WJR.  She highlighted the Slowing Ash Mortality (SLAM) project and what impact it might have on the reduction of ash mortality.

Applied Spatial Ecology and Technical Services (ASETS) is partner in this project along with additional university, state and federal partners. We are tasked with the design and implementation of the project’s data management infrastructure.

Lauren Talley writes of the interview on mlive.com -

I still remember the day the ash trees went down in my neighborhood. It was spring and I had to pick up the girl I babysat at our neighborhood elementary school. I had passed those silent giants for 17 years, but on that day, after the whirs of chainsaws died down, everything sounded eerily clear. My tree-lined neighborhood looked barren without the ash – the oaks and the maples couldn’t make up for the loss. Read more ->

You can hear McCullough’s April 2 Greening of the Great Lakes conversation with Kirk Heinze on News/Talk 760 WJR by following this link -> Listen to their discussion.

• Emerald Ash Borer in Tennessee
• Emerald Ash Borer Most Destructive Forest Pest
• Getac Setup Begins

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) today announced the discovery of an emerald ash borer infestation (EAB) in St. Paul just northeast of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Highway 280. This is the first detection of the destructive tree pest in Minnesota.

The infestation was initially reported to MDA by Rainbow Tree Care Company on Wednesday. After receiving the report and conducting an initial inspection, MDA submitted larvae from the infested trees to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for confirmation as EAB. USDA made that preliminary confirmation this morning.

In response to this finding, MDA plans to issue a quarantine prohibiting the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber or any other article that could spread EAB in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. This quarantine is expected to be followed by a federal quarantine within days. MDA staff will now conduct a thorough survey of trees in the surrounding area to assess the extent of the infestation. Information from this survey will help determine the response strategy implemented by state and local officials. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) are working closely with MDA in the response.

EAB is an invasive beetle that attacks and kills ash trees. Its larvae kill ash trees by tunneling into the wood and feeding on the tree’s nutrients. Since its accidental introduction into North America, EAB has killed millions of ash trees in 10 eastern states. With an estimated 900 million ash trees, Minnesota is a prime target for EAB. Earlier this year, MDA issued a quarantine for Houston County in response to an EAB infestation across the border in Wisconsin.

The metallic-green adult beetles are a half inch long, and are active from May to September. Signs of EAB infestation include one-eighth inch, D-shaped exit holes in ash tree bark and serpentine tunnels packed with sawdust under the bark. While EAB spreads slowly on its own, it can hitch a ride to new areas when people transport firewood or other wood products infested with the larvae. Officials urge Minnesotans to take steps to keep EAB from spreading:

• Don’t transport firewood, even within Minnesota. Don’t bring firewood along on a camping trip. Buy the wood you need locally from an approved vendor. Don’t bring extra wood home with you.

• Don’t buy or move firewood from outside your area. If someone comes to your door selling firewood, ask them about the source of the wood.

• Watch for signs of infestation in your ash trees. If you suspect your ash tree could be infested by EAB, visit www.mda.state.mn.us/invasives/eab and use the “Do I Have Emerald Ash Borer?” checklist.

• Firewood movement leading cause of oak infestation in San Diego County, researchers find
• Tools to imagine the forest of the future
• Maine Firewood Exchange Snags Potentially Dangerous Wood – MPBN News