Environment DEC
From the July 2008 issue
Efforts Increase to Protect Forests from Invasives and Other Threats
Asian longhorned beetle larvae feed on the heartwood of maples, elms and willows, killing the trees. The adult beetle is shown here. (Photo: Kenneth R. Law, USDA APHIS PPQ
New York State has taken new steps to stop the influx and spread of tree-killing pests such as the emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle and sirex wood wasp by restricting the importation, transportation and sale of untreated firewood. These actions closely follow measures imposed by Pennsylvania and other states to stem the proliferation of invasive species that can wipe out trees in forests and neighborhoods.
Many exotic pests can be transported long distances unintentionally via human activity-especially through hauling firewood. To limit this possibility, effective immediately New York will prohibit the importation of out-of-state firewood that has not been treated to eliminate invasive species, fungi and pathogens that can kill millions of trees. The regulations also limit the transportation of untreated firewood within the state to less than 50 miles from the point of origin. They do not affect firewood being transported through New York State for sale and use in another state.
Firewood cut on one's own property, for personal use on that same property, is not regulated. However, people who cut and transport firewood for their own use (i.e., not for sale) must have a Self-Issued Certificate of Source, available from DEC's website or any DEC office, and may not move that firewood more than 50 miles from where it was cut.
Ash firewood showing the serpentine channels created by the larvae of the emerald ash borer. Photo: Troy Kimoto, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Bugwood.org
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be submitting a formal rulemaking proposal to the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform (GORR) for review. GORR's approval would initiate a public-involvement process leading to a permanent firewood regulation.
In the Meantime...
New York has cooperated with the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on surveying and monitoring efforts aimed at early detection of the emerald ash borer. For the past several years, the state has deployed baited traps and established "trap trees" in an attempt to determine whether this insect is present in our forests. Last year, the state initiated a major outreach and information campaign aimed at users of state campgrounds, alerting them to the dangers of moving firewood and asking them not to move firewood but to buy it locally instead.
History of Forest Invasives
In years past, New York State's trees have been hit with chestnut blight, European gypsy moth, Dutch elm disease and beech bark disease, all with destructive results. More recently, the state has discovered Asian long-horned beetles, hemlock wooly adelgids, pine shoot beetles and sirex wood wasps infesting urban and rural forests and killing thousands of trees.
The adult emerald ash borer is most visible in June and July. The immature borers infest and kill all ash species. Photo: David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org
Another potentially troubling insect invader, the emerald ash borer, has been moving east from Michigan and was found last year in Pennsylvania. This Asian beetle, discovered in 2002, infests and kills various North American ash species-30 million trees so far in Michigan alone. Death of the tree often occurs within two or three years, depending on the level of infestation. Most long-distance movement of emerald ash borers-now found in seven states-has been directly traced to ash firewood or ash nursery stock. Currently, there is no simple way to get rid of this invasive other than by razing infected trees.
