2007 PRESS RELEASES
October 3, 2007
HELP SAVE LOCAL TREES; DON’T MOVE FIREWOOD
Contact: Marion Horsley, 804.225.3820
When packing for fall hunting and camping trips, picnics, hikes or other outdoor activities, there is one item you definitely need to leave at home. That item is firewood.
Why not bring firewood with you? According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Office of Plant and Pest Services, Virginia’s native trees and forests are threatened by non-native invasive insects and diseases that live in dead and dying wood. These pests may be accidentally spread to new areas by outdoor enthusiasts and homeowners moving firewood from one location to another. Once transported into a new site, these destructive insects and diseases can become established and eventually kill local trees.
The emerald ash borer (EAB), Asian longhorned beetle, and Sirex woodwasp are three wood-infesting species that can be transported long distances on firewood with disastrous results.
The emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive insect from Asia, feeds on ash trees. In its adult form, EAB consumes ash tree foliage and actually causes little damage. The real devastation comes from the larvae, which feed on the inner bark and disrupt the ash tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. EAB is responsible for over 20 million dead and dying ash trees in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois since its accidental introduction into the U. S. in 2002.
Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) entered the U. S. inside packing material from China and was first discovered in Brooklyn, New York in 1996. It preys on a variety of hardwood trees, including maple, birch, poplar, willow, elm, ash, mimosa, and sycamore. The infested tree dies when the immature insects, growing inside it, bore through tissue that carry water from tree roots and nutrients from the leafy canopy above, substantially disrupting vital pathways.
The Sirex woodwasp and its symbiotic wood destroying fungus are native to Eurasia and North Africa but were trapped in New York State in 2004. This insect-disease combination is a possible threat to pine trees in the U. S., especially Monterey pine and loblolly pine. The insect causes damage principally by injecting toxic mucus and wood decay fungi into living pine trees. The fungus and the mucus weaken the tree and kill it.
You can help stop the spread of these and other insidious pests into new areas where they can destroy precious trees. Protect Virginia’s trees and forests by using firewood from local sources instead of bringing it with you when you travel to campsites, picnic areas, vacation getaways or other destinations. If you have moved firewood, burn all of it before leaving. Do not transport firewood across state lines or into campgrounds or parks.
For additional information about these destructive pests and actions to combat their spread, log onto http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/eab/firewood/, www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ep or www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/firewood_eab.htm