Quarantine expanded to fight Emerald Ash Borer

PLATTE COUNTY, MO — Following this summer’s findings of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer in Platte, Madison and Reynolds counties, Missouri’s quarantine regulating the movement of many ash wood products has been expanded. The quarantine, an effort to reduce the spread of the one-half inch long emerald green-colored beetle, now includes the counties in which the borer has been found as well as several adjacent counties. Carter, Iron, Madison, Reynolds and Shannon counties in southeast Missouri and Clay and Platte counties near Kansas City are now included in the state quarantine, and Missouri’s Wayne County has been quarantined as a result of the Emerald Ash Borer since the insect was first identified within the state in 2008. The quarantine limits the movement of certain wood products from these counties most likely to transport the borer. Affected products, which may not be moved without first entering into a compliance agreement through USDA-APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine, include any part of an ash tree, from logs and green lumber, to compost, bark and chips, as well as ash nursery stock and all hardwood firewood. USDA-APHIS-PPQ also has quarantined the eight Missouri counties included in the state’s quarantine.  Detailed information on movement of ash products under a compliance agreement is available online at eab.missouri.edu. Much of the pests’ spread is attributed to humans transporting it under the bark of firewood, logs and tree debris. As such, Missouri’s quarantines prohibit both interstate and intrastate movement of those products.