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OAK HILL MAYOR TO PROCLAIM EMERALD ASH BORER WEEK TO RAISE AWARENESS IN FAYETTE COUNTY
Oak Hill Mayor Bill Hannabass will hold a press conference Thursday, May 22, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. to proclaim Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Week in Oak Hill to help raise awareness of the pest, which threatens the health of Ash trees throughout West Virginia and the United States.
Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass and other officials with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), as well as Oak Hill City Manager Tom Oxley, are expected to attend. The event will be held at the office of dentist Dr. Robert J. Skoretz at 417 Main Street east, Oak Hill, W. Va., which features one of Oak Hill’s largest Ash trees. Following the ceremony, reporters are invited to visit an area with EAB-infested trees and EAB traps.
Commissioner Douglass is scheduled to join a group of South Carolina farmers at noon for a luncheon at Hawk’s Nest State Park and a tour of Blue Smoke Salsa in Ansted. The South Carolina delegation has been touring West Virginia to learn about many of the state’s agribusiness ventures.
Fayette County is currently under an Emerald Ash Borer quarantine, which prohibits the movement of any hardwood firewood – as well as ash logs, ash timber scraps and other regulated articles – from Fayette County to other West Virginia counties. A similar federal quarantine prohibits the movement of regulated articles from Fayette County to other states.
Large numbers of EAB have been documented in Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maryland. It was first discovered in West Virginia in Fayette County in October 2007. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage, but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients.
Since its discovery, EAB has killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana. It has cost municipalities, property owners, nursery operators and forest products industries tens of millions of dollars.
“Fayette County is the only West Virginia county where we have found EAB so far. Because it is so far from other infested areas, we believe that EAB hitched a ride with firewood brought in by a camper from out of state,” said Commissioner Douglass. “Our fear is that other areas of the state could become infested, or that a different pest could be introduced in the same way. Our message is to buy locally produced firewood. And if you inadvertently bring firewood, burn it all; don’t leave it lying on the ground.”
New EAB Regulatory Officer Jody Wilson noted that other states are marking EAB Week as well. “Historically, Memorial Day weekend is the beginning of the summer travel season nationwide,” Wilson said. “More than a million people visit the New River Gorge area each year, and we want to do our best to protect the trees that are a large part of the appeal of this area.”
She also noted that WVDA staff will be hanging purple sticky box traps in trees to monitor for the presence of EAB, and that forest industry companies can contact her for details on the quarantine and simple ways to comply with it.
For more information, contact Wilson at 304-256-6742, WVDA’s Plant Industries Division at 304-558-2212, or visit www.emeraldashborer.info, or www.wvagriculture.org.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.
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