Ash borer poses threat to Ohio trees

By RICHARD L. BOCCIA

The beetle will likely change the face of backyards and forests.

The bugs are coming, and they’re coming for the ash tree.

Because of a beetle called the emerald ash borer, forests such as those in Mill Creek Park could eventually see the death of the ash. A horticulturist at the park says that amounts to 15 percent to 18 percent of Mill Creek’s trees, which could host the borer’s larvae under the bark until the bugs choke the trees.

Besides decimating ash trees in parks, the beetle will likely change the face of backyards and forests, impacting the ecosystem and diminishing the kaleidoscope of Ohio’s autumn colors.

Ellen Speicher, assistant horticulture director at the park, said she’s concerned.

“What worries me about it is that ... they will kill all the native ash trees,” she said.

Without shade from those trees, invasive plant species that thrive in the sun could move in and choke out everything else, including tree seedlings. Speicher said park staff will have to remove the invasive plants.

Nationwide, ash tree removal and replacement could amount to $7 billion over the next two decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which placed survey traps across the country this spring to track the spread of the emerald ash borer. The survey aims to measure how fast and how far the beetles have spread; the traps are not meant to remove the pest.

Trumbull and Columbiana counties are sites for the traps, while Mahoning, Portage and 39 other Ohio counties are under ash wood quarantines to slow the growing infestation.

The USDA’s purple plastic traps are coated with nontoxic glue to catch the beetles, and placed in ash trees. An oil lure and the color of the traps attract the borer. USDA workers will collect the 2-foot-tall traps in the fall to discover whether the beetles have moved into previously uninfested areas.

Daniel Herms, a professor of entomology at Ohio State University who researches the problem, described a grim picture. Herms said one in 10 of the state’s trees are ash, and he is convinced that the beetle will spread. Still, Herms said he sees an end to the menace: just south of Jacksonville, Fla., where the ash trees stop growing.

The emerald ash borer was first seen in Detroit in 2002 and in the Toledo area in 2003, and the insect has killed tens of millions of ash trees across Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, according to agriculture authorities. The pest has also been found in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Ontario, Canada. The USDA says the beetle may have first arrived in the ’90s, carried by wooden packing material from its home in eastern Asia.

In terms of slowing the spread of the beetle, the Ohio Department of Agriculture wants to educate the public about how the pest can reach new areas when infested firewood is moved.

“Buy local, burn local” is themessage from Cindy Brown, the department’s communications director. To enforce that directive, the department has placed a $4,000 fine on moving ash products outside the quarantine. Going a step further, the USDA has quarantined several states, including Ohio, with penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and possible imprisonment.

The nationwide trapping survey cost about $9.1 million to place 60,000 traps, with 7,500 in Ohio. The USDA hung the traps in spring this year, and plans to collect them in the fall after the beetles’ flight season.

Despite the threat to forests, exterminating the emerald ash borer on a large scale may not be an affordable option. Though some insecticides can kill the beetle or keep it off uninfested trees, the cost makes spraying impractical for all of Ohio’s 3.8 billion ash trees.

Still, it’s feasible for individuals to save their trees on private property, said Daniel Balser, who manages the forest health program at the Ohio Division of Forestry. He said some insecticides are available for $40 per tree per year, although 5 percent of emerald ash borers will survive those chemicals.

“In the long run, is that enough?” said Balser of the insecticide’s effectiveness. The surviving beetles could still threaten trees. “We’ve only been dealing with the insect for four years, and it has shown a capacity to do a great deal of damage.”

Still, he foresees a small number of ash trees surviving — while the beetle destroys some, others have a chance to regrow.

Herms said he’s paying more as a homeowner fighting the pest: It costs him $100 a year to protect one tree on his Michigan property, which has lost six other ashes. In the end, it may be cheaper to replace the tree than spray it every year. Herms has planted a different variety of tree next to the ash — one that isn’t food for the emerald ash borer.

rboccia@vindy.com