Tree-killing beetle found in Ohio national forest

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (AP) — An insect that destroys trees has found its way into Ohio’s only national forest, leading the state to expand a quarantine.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture said today the emerald ash borer has been discovered in a tree within the Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio’s Perry County. The county becomes the 68th added to a quarantine zone where it’s illegal to remove ash trees, either whole or in part, and all hardwood firewood.

The restrictions are meant to slow the spread of the Asian beetle, which has killed tens of millions of ash trees in the Midwest and neighboring parts of Canada since 2002.