[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Emerald Ash Borer detected in Scott County
[/title][fusion_text]Tuesday, August 25th 2015
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) today confirmed an emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation in Scott County. EAB was found in an ash tree on private property in the city of Prior Lake. The infested tree was detected through a call to the MDA’s Arrest the Pest information phone line. Arrest the Pest allows concerned residents to report suspicious invasive plants and insects, like the emerald ash borer. Based on the call, MDA staff was able to visit the site and determine an ash tree in question was infested with EAB. Because of this find, Scott County will be put under an emergency quarantine and eventually join Anoka, Chisago, Dakota, Fillmore, Hennepin, Houston, Olmsted, Ramsey, and Winona counties in a state and federal quarantine. The quarantine is in place to help prevent EAB from spreading outside a known infested area. It is designed to limit the movement of any items that may be infested with EAB, including ash trees and ash tree limbs, as well as all hardwood firewood. The biggest risk of spreading EAB comes from people unknowingly moving firewood or other ash products harboring larvae. Emerald ash borer larvae kill ash trees by tunneling under the bark and feeding on the part of the tree that moves nutrients up and down the trunk. The invasive insect was first discovered in Minnesota in 2009. The last county to be quarantined for EAB was Chisago County earlier in August 2015. Minnesota is highly susceptible to the destruction caused by EAB. The state has approximately one billion ash trees, the most of any state in the nation. For more information on emerald ash borer, go to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s website at www.mda.state.mn.us/eab.
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