Emerald Ash Borer found in second Iowa county

Emerald Ash Borer was found on Henderson Island in the Mississippi River in Allamakee County in 2010.  Since that time Iowa Department of Agriculture officials have been monitoring trees in Allamakee and Winneshiek counties, trying to see if the EAB had spread.

Now they have found EAB has spread--but not in Northeast Iowa.  State Entomologist Robin Pruisner on Tuesday announced that EAB has been positively identified in a residential tree in the city of Burlington in Des Moines County.

As with the EAB outbreak in Allamakee County, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, along with USDA, will be issuing a quarantine for Des Moines County in the near future.  A quarantine by state and U.S. agriculture departments means that hardwood firewood, ash logs and wood chips cannot be moved out of the area without a permit.

Pruisner said all Iowans are strongly cautioned not to transport firewood across county or state lines, since the movement of firewood throughout Iowa or to other states poses the greatest threat to quickly spread EAB even further.

EAB kills all ash species by larval burrowing under the bark and eating the actively growing layers of the trees. EAB is now considered to be one of the most destructive forest pests ever seen in North America.