OHIO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2004
Media contact: Melissa Brewer, EAB Communications, 614-728-6404

 Emerald Ash Borer Open House Slated for Pioneer in Williams County

REYNOLDSBURG - The Ohio Department of Agriculture will target areas in Pioneer in Williams County for Emerald Ash Borer eradication designed to eliminate this destructive insect. To help educate local residents about the program, ODA will host an open house where residents can talk directly with the department's plant pest control staff and view displays about the Emerald Ash Borer and maps of the local eradication zone.

Who:      Pioneer residents and business owners, ODA plant pest officials

What:     Emerald Ash Borer Open House

When:    Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004, 6-8 p.m.

Where:   Ramada Inn and Suites, 13508 State Route 15, Montpelier, Ohio

Why:      To educate residents about eradication and provide a forum for individual questions

How:      Open house-style meeting. Citizens may come and go any time during open house hours.

The Emerald Ash Borer was first discovered in Ohio in 2003 in Lucas County and to date has been found in Defiance, Franklin, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Wood counties. Two infestations were discovered in Pittsford, Mich., less than ½ mile away from Pioneer in May. ODA surveyors began marking ash trees on the Ohio side of the border in October for eradication purposes.

Marked trees within ½ mile radius of the initial infestation will soon be cut down, pending on U.S. Department of Agriculture funding. All ash trees within the ½ mile radius, regardless of whether they are visibly infested, will be destroyed in order to stop the spread of the insect. The eradication program will be conducted under the department’s authority in Ohio Revised Code Section 927.70 to control, eradicate, and prevent the spread of invasive species and prevent massive economic losses to Ohio’s homeowners and nursery, timber, and tourism industries.

For more information about the open house, call the Emerald Ash Borer hotline at 1-888-OHIO-EAB, or go the department's Web site, www.ohioagriculture.gov, for pest and identification information.