The United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) together with the Ohio Department of Agriculture today announced that a portion of East Fork State Park in Clermont County, Ohio, is removed from the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) quarantine area. The Ohio ALB cooperative eradication program found no signs of the beetle in the area after completing its final round of tree inspection surveys.
“Our shared goal is eliminating Asian longhorned beetle from Ohio, and our eradication strategies are working.” said Mark Davidson, APHIS’ Plant Protection and Quarantine Acting Deputy Administrator, “While deregulating this portion of East Fork State Park is a victory for all of us, we ask that Ohio residents continue to regularly check their trees for signs of damage and to not move firewood out of the remaining quarantine.”
The 7.5 square miles removed from the quarantine area include the portion of East Fork State Park in Batavia and Williamsburg Townships that is north and west of William H. Harsha Lake. There were two other smaller areas in Ohio removed from ALB quarantine in 2018; one in Monroe Township and the other that included adjacent portions of Batavia Township and Stonelick Township. This is the first removal of regulations from the initial and largest quarantine area that was put in place when the beetle was first found in Ohio in 2011.
There are 49 square miles still under quarantine for ALB in Ohio, which includes all of Tate Township, portions of Batavia and Williamsburg townships and East Fork State Park. People may not move regulated items, such as firewood (all hardwood species), nursery stock, logs, branches, and other woody material a half inch or more in diameter, out of the area without a compliance agreement, permit, or certificate. To view a map of the Ohio ALB quarantine, please visit https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/asian-longhorned-beetle/quarantines/alb-quarantine-ohio
APHIS and its partners use an integrated approach to eradicate ALB, which includes enacting
quarantines, conducting tree inspections, removing infested trees, and sometimes removing at-risk host trees and using insecticide treatments. Residents can help by allowing eradication program officials property access to inspect and remove trees, hiring tree or landscape companies that have compliance agreements with the eradication program, and checking trees and reporting signs of damage and the beetle.
Source : usda.gov