GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – State officials say your evergreen holiday wreaths and swag might be home to an “unwelcome visitor.”
Elongate Hemlock Scale, or EHS, is an invasive species native to Asia that is making the rounds throughout the state and northeast Wisconsin.
“This year, we found in a number of our major chain stores this Elongate Hemlock Scale on the decorations,” says Donna Gilson, with the Division of Agricultural Resource Management.
Gilson says they’ve seen this pop up in the past, but never to this extent.
“In this case, we found it in so many different places and we knew that people had already bought some of these items and taken them home with them,” she explains.
Inspectors have found this species isolated at some Christmas tree lots in the past few years, but never to an extent to warrant a serious warning.
EHS threatens Christmas tree farms in the state, because it drains nutrients as it feeds on the underside of conifer needles.
This year enough infested evergreen products were found at major stores throughout the state to raise concern.
The invasive species carries with it environmental threats that could impact many neighborhoods.
“The risks to you as a homeowner would be if you have any kind of evergreens in your yard or if your neighbor has them,” she says. “If there’s a park next door or near to you.”
Officials say it’s alright to keep your decorations up for the remainder of the holidays, because the species will not affect those living inside a residence.
“No human health risk whatsoever,” explains Gilson. “Unless you’re an evergreen tree, there’s no risk to you personally.”
The concern though, is the manner in which decorations are disposed of.
Officials are discouraging decorations to be placed in a compost pile or set aside for brush collection, because of the concern over the invasive species.
Rather, they are saying it’s best to burn the decorations or bag them and send them to the landfill.
