Durham, Graham, Johnston, Orange & Wilson Counties Added To Quarantine For Emerald Ash Borer Print
Local Government
By Administrator   
Friday, 24 July 2015 06:03

RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - State agriculture officials have added five more counties to the quarantine rules restricting the movement of hardwood firewood, ash nursery stock and other ash materials. The quarantain follows discovery of more trees infested with emerald ash borers.

The addition of Durham, Graham, Johnston, Orange and Wilson counties brings the total number of counties under quarantine to 12.

“This is a devastating pest to ash trees, eventually killing the trees where the insects are found,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a statement. “We are continuing to monitor other counties for this highly destructive pest through trapping and visual assessment of trees. We will be pulling traps in early August and it is possible we will find sites in more counties when we do. We ask the public not to disturb the purple, triangle-shaped traps if they see them.”

The beetle was first detected in the United States in Michigan in 2002. It is responsible for the death or decline of tens of millions of ash trees across the country.