Traps being placed on Trees to catch Emerald Ash Borer

Omaha City Councilman Pete Festersen has the support of three more councilmen Franklin Thompson, Rich Pahls and Chris Jerram for his idea of putting more money to the 2016 budget so that he can hire an additional three- person tree-trimming crew and to buy specialized trucks due to expected emerald ash borer invasion.

But that hasn’t stopped the U.S. Department of Agriculture from placing traps around the Denver metro area to detect any early signs of emerald ash borer when it’s still possible to save an ash tree. As the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the Canadian Forest Service are responsible for the initial research behind the new bio – weapon, the USDA has already agreed to supply several thousand wasp eggs at no cost in return for such information as the city can gather about their effective use within an urban environment.

Boulder County is under quarantine, which should limit any wood from leaving the county. This is to halt the further spread of the parasite in other territories.

Tennessee now has 46 counties under state and federal Emerald Ash Borer quarantine.

Some basic rules to follow in order to control the spread of disease are using local firewood burned near its origin; purchasing firewood certified pest-free; knowing the appearance of infected trees; and halting firewood transport.

The reason behind the aggressive nature of the emerald ash borer contamination is the fact that the American ash trees were naive hosts, which means that they were completely unprepared genetically to cope with the wrath of this vicious killer. The purple-colored traps are 24 inches long and are 15 feet up on ash trees.

City Forester John Wynn told council members said that the emerald ash borer’s arrival in Nebraska was expected. In Tennessee, the first case of infestation was noted in 2010.

TDA’s Division of Forestry estimates that 261 million ash trees grow on public and private timberland in Tennessee, potentially valued as high as $9 billion.