MONROE - The movement of the emerald ash borer into Walworth County, discovered this month, has brought more worry to bear on the city's forester Paul Klinzing. The little, metallic green destroyer of ash trees is now only about 50 miles from the city - and just 35 miles from the Green County border.
"Of course we're worried," Klinzing said. "Monroe has a lot of ash trees. They were a common tree (to plant) in the years after the Dutch Elm Disease in the 60s. They're now 30 to 40 years old."
Monroe's parks and terraces are planted with so many ash trees, the city parks department stopped counting in 1986.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has marked Monroe as a high risk area on its 2012 Wisconsin Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) trapping plan.
An adult EAB beetle was collected Thursday, June 7 near a tree that displayed signs of EAB infestation on a private woodlot in southern Walworth County, about 10 miles southwest of Lake Geneva and about one-half mile north of the stateline, according to a DATCP news release.
Walworth County will be quarantined soon, DATCP announced.
The EAB quarantine affects some businesses that use certain ash products. For most people, the quarantine means that hardwood firewood, regardless of tree species, cannot leave the quarantined area. DATCP maintains strong emerald ash borer restrictions, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture's looser quarantine requirements announced in May.
The tree-killing emerald ash borer has been discovered so far in 10 Wisconsin counties, including the recent addition of Walworth County. The other counties are Brown, Crawford, Kenosha, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Vernon, and Washington.
Counties neighboring Walworth may be added to the quarantine list, pending further review. EAB quarantines currently exist in Brown, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha counties in eastern Wisconsin and in La Crosse, Crawford and Vernon counties in western Wisconsin.
Of concern to southern stateline counties, including Green County, EAB is also in Illinois. EAB was first discovered in Illinois June 2006 in Kane County, just south of McHenry County. Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, and Lake counties along the Wisconsin border, plus the counties southward in two-thirds of Illinois, are now infested.
EAB causes ash tree mortality and decline, according to the Illinois state EAB website. The adult beetles are about one-half inch long, nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark or cambium layer, which is the crucial layer between the bark and wood of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. Adults leave a D-shaped exit hole in the bark when they emerge in spring.
Woodpeckers like EAB larvae, and heavy woodpecker damage on ash trees may be a sign of infestation. EAB attack only ash trees.
The Illinois website warned that, if not controlled, EAB could wipe out the ash tree species in North America.
Klinzing said some communities, including Milwaukee, are experimenting and finding success with an insecticide treatment. An insecticide capsule is inserted into a hole bored in the affected tree.
The $60 treatment cost per tree is better than a $600 tree removal, Klinzing said.
"Of course we're worried," Klinzing said. "Monroe has a lot of ash trees. They were a common tree (to plant) in the years after the Dutch Elm Disease in the 60s. They're now 30 to 40 years old."
Monroe's parks and terraces are planted with so many ash trees, the city parks department stopped counting in 1986.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has marked Monroe as a high risk area on its 2012 Wisconsin Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) trapping plan.
An adult EAB beetle was collected Thursday, June 7 near a tree that displayed signs of EAB infestation on a private woodlot in southern Walworth County, about 10 miles southwest of Lake Geneva and about one-half mile north of the stateline, according to a DATCP news release.
Walworth County will be quarantined soon, DATCP announced.
The EAB quarantine affects some businesses that use certain ash products. For most people, the quarantine means that hardwood firewood, regardless of tree species, cannot leave the quarantined area. DATCP maintains strong emerald ash borer restrictions, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture's looser quarantine requirements announced in May.
The tree-killing emerald ash borer has been discovered so far in 10 Wisconsin counties, including the recent addition of Walworth County. The other counties are Brown, Crawford, Kenosha, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Vernon, and Washington.
Counties neighboring Walworth may be added to the quarantine list, pending further review. EAB quarantines currently exist in Brown, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha counties in eastern Wisconsin and in La Crosse, Crawford and Vernon counties in western Wisconsin.
Of concern to southern stateline counties, including Green County, EAB is also in Illinois. EAB was first discovered in Illinois June 2006 in Kane County, just south of McHenry County. Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, and Lake counties along the Wisconsin border, plus the counties southward in two-thirds of Illinois, are now infested.
EAB causes ash tree mortality and decline, according to the Illinois state EAB website. The adult beetles are about one-half inch long, nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark or cambium layer, which is the crucial layer between the bark and wood of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. Adults leave a D-shaped exit hole in the bark when they emerge in spring.
Woodpeckers like EAB larvae, and heavy woodpecker damage on ash trees may be a sign of infestation. EAB attack only ash trees.
The Illinois website warned that, if not controlled, EAB could wipe out the ash tree species in North America.
Klinzing said some communities, including Milwaukee, are experimenting and finding success with an insecticide treatment. An insecticide capsule is inserted into a hole bored in the affected tree.
The $60 treatment cost per tree is better than a $600 tree removal, Klinzing said.