MDA details new Emerald Ash Borer finds, quarantine rules, treatment options and how to report sightings

Jonathan Austis, the Emerald Ash Borer technical assistance coordinator in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Plant Protection Division, reviewed recent detections of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Minnesota, described how to identify the pest and its damage, summarized quarantine rules that limit movement of ash material and hardwood firewood, and outlined management options for homeowners and communities.

Austis said the briefing was prompted by new detections: “We’re having this meeting due to the recent detections of EAB in Kanabec County and then, new parts of Cass and Isanti Counties.” He emphasized that early detection and reporting improve MDA’s ability to respond and that the agency posts an interactive EAB status map on its website.

Why this matters: Minnesota has an outsized ash resource that makes the state vulnerable. Austis told attendees Minnesota has roughly a billion ash trees — more than any other contiguous state — and that in many communities ash can compose one in five, and in parts of northern and western communities one in two or three, of street and yard trees. Because EAB populations build slowly and then often cause rapid mortality, many communities face synchronized tree losses that create safety…