MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) – State officials said on Friday that emerald ash borer has been found on a tree in Manitowoc County for the first time.
The invasive insect was found on a private woodlot in the Town of Schleswig.
Despite the discovery, the county had been under quarantine for EAB since 2014. That was due to infestations found in neighboring Calumet and Outagamie counties.
“This will not change anything from a regulatory standpoint,” Brian Kuhn, Plant Industry Bureau Director with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), said in a statement. “The quarantine will remain in place. The insects will continue to spread naturally, but the quarantine can help prevent EAB from leapfrogging to entirely new areas with the help of humans.”
The property owner noticed woodpecker damage to ash trees throughout a six-acre woodlot and reported it to the state EAB hotline. On October 6, DATCP staff visited the site and collected EAB larvae, or immature insects, from two heavily infested trees.
Samples went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for official confirmation, which was received October 12.
For private citizens, the quarantine means that they cannot take firewood from Manitowoc County to non-quarantine counties. For businesses handling wood products that could carry EAB, it means that they must work with DATCP to assure that their products are pest-free before shipping.
Contact a professional arborist for expert advice, and visit emeraldashborer.wi.gov for detailed information.
Emerald ash borer is native to China and probably entered the United States on packing material, showing up first in Michigan in 2002. It was first found in Wisconsin in 2008 in Washington County. Manitowoc County joins 39 other Wisconsin counties where EAB has been found: Adams, Brown, Buffalo, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Door, Douglas, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Lafayette, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oneida, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sawyer, Sheboygan, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Winnebago and Wood. Iowa and Kewaunee counties are also under quarantine because of the proximity of infestations in neighboring counties.
