Indiana Adds County to Emerald Ash Borer/Wood Quarantine Emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive forest insect that kills ash trees, has been detected in Hendricks County.
As a result, Robert E. Carter Jr., director of the DNR, declared the county quarantined for EAB after state entomologist Phil Marshall recommended that movement of regulated ash material and hardwood firewood within the county be limited to reduce spread of the insect. To view quarantined areas and EAB sightings in Indiana go to the DNR’s interactive EAB Map at http://www.in.gov/dnr/entomolo/5349.htm.
An EAB quarantine restricts the movement of regulated ash materials, including whole ash trees, limbs, branches or debris of ash trees at least 1 inch in diameter, ash logs or untreated ash lumber with bark attached, or cut firewood of any hardwood species, outside of the affected county. Regulated ash material and hardwood firewood may be moved within the county, but special permission in the form of a signed compliance agreement must be obtained from the Indiana DNR to move it outside the county borders. In general, the DNR recommends that movement remain limited within each county when possible to reduce spread of the insect within the county. A compliance agreement can be applied for by contacting the Indiana DNR’s Division of Entomology and Plant Pathology at (317) 232-4120.
EAB, first found in Indiana in 2004, has now been identified in 35 Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, Blackford, Brown, Carroll, Cass, DeKalb, Delaware, Dubois, Elkhart, Floyd, Grant, Hamilton, Harrison, Hendricks, Huntington, Jay, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lawrence, Marion, Miami, Monroe, Noble, Orange, Porter, Randolph, Ripley, St. Joseph, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Wabash, Wells, White and Whitley.
In addition to the state-level quarantine, all of Indiana is under a federal quarantine that prohibits moving regulated ash material out of Indiana without a compliance agreement or permit from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). For a federal compliance agreement application, contact USDA, APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) at (765) 497-2859.
