ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO OFFER EMERALD ASH BORER WORKSHOPS

October 16, 2006

"Hands-on" training will better equip arborists, tree removal services and local governments to identify the small, tree-killing beetle

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. * The first two trees in Illinois found to be infested with the emerald ash borer will be used as training tools to improve surveillance for the destructive pest.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture has scheduled two demonstrations Wednesday, Oct. 18, to teach arborists, tree removal services and local governments how to strip bark from Ash trees and tell whether they are infested with the tiny, metallic-green beetle.
Using the infested trees from the Windings subdivision for the demonstrations will allow the department to show participants signs of the beetle firsthand, including the channels its larvae burrow beneath a tree's bark.
One demonstration will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Campton Forest Preserve, 4N379 Town Hall Rd., St. Charles. The other will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 18501 S. Harlem Ave., Tinley Park, during the Illinois Arborist Association's 24th Annual Convention and Trade Show. Participants planning to attend the Tinley Park "bark-peeling" demonstration can register at the door. No registration is required to participate in the St. Charles demonstration. Equipment will be provided.
Meantime, a tree service has been hired to help the department complete a bark-stripping survey throughout Kane County.
The survey will determine the extent of the Kane County infestation and guide decisions on how best to manage the tree-killing pest. It begins this week and will involve the removal of approximately 260 distressed Ash trees on or adjacent to public rights of way. The work should be finished by Dec. 1.
A similar survey is planned in northern Cook County to define the infestation there. Department staff, with assistance from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, currently are identifying trees for possible inclusion in the survey.
EAB was first detected in Illinois on June 9 in rural Kane County. Since then the insect, which has killed more than 20 million Ash trees in North America, also has been found in the Cook County communities of Wilmette, Evanston and Winnetka.
The beetle poses no risk to public health. How it arrived in Illinois is unknown, but the department suspects it may have been transported here in contaminated firewood. Anyone who suspects a tree has been infested is urged to contact their county Extension office. ###


Jeff Squibb 217-558-1546