OHIO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ohio Agriculture Department Expands Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine Area

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (Nov. 8, 2005) – Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred L. Dailey today announced an expansion of Ohio’s quarantine area in northwest Ohio and in Indiana to prevent the further spread of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an ash tree-killing insect from Asia.

It is illegal for citizens to move ash trees, branches, wood chips, bark, and non-coniferous firewood out of the expanded area, which now includes Bridgewater Township in Williams County and Margaretta, Groton, Perkins, and Oxford townships in Erie County. Indiana’s Adams and Randolph counties also are quarantined.

“We’ve expanded our quarantined areas, in light of our most recent discoveries, to aid in containing Ohio’s EAB infestation,” Dailey said. “As the cold season sets in, we remind and encourage citizens to abide by the quarantines, buy local firewood, and aid in stopping this devastating pest.”    

Ash tree materials and firewood are prohibited from leaving already existing quarantine areas in Ohio:

• Fulton County east of State Route 108
• Henry County east of State Route 108 and north of the Maumee River
• Lucas County
• Wood County north of State Route 582
• Sandusky County north of State Route 582, U.S. Route 20, and State Route 105 at connecting points
• Ottawa County north of State Route 105 and north of State Route 163 at connecting point
• Auglaize County: Duchouquet Township
• Defiance County: Hicksville Township
• Hancock: Allen Township
• Wood County: Bloom and Henry Township

Ohio bans also prohibit the movement of these materials from Michigan into Ohio and from infested Indiana counties into Ohio. Violators face fines up to $4,000.

To date, EAB has been identified in Auglaize, Delaware, Defiance, Erie, Franklin, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Lucas, Sandusky, Ottawa, Wood, and Williams counties. The pest was first discovered in Ohio in 2003. Since then, the department has eradicated it from Franklin CountyH, which continues to be monitored.

Ash trees infested with EAB typically die within five years. The pest belongs to a group of metallic wood-boring beetles. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly only from early May until September. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees, and when they emerge as adults, leave D-shaped exit holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.

For an updated quarantine map, go to www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab, or call 1-888-OHIO-EAB.

Media Contact: Melissa Brewer, EAB Communications, 614-728-6404

Melissa Brewer
Public Information Officer
Emerald Ash Borer Program
Ohio Department of Agriculture
8995 E. Main Street
Reynoldsburg, Ohio  43068
Work: (614) 728-6404/ Cell: (614) 282-9652