(Arnolds Park)– Emerald ash borer has now been confirmed in Dickinson county for the first time. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship made the confirmation from some larvae collected in a sample just outside the eastern city limits of Arnolds Park. Laura Iles, an insect diagnostician with the Entomology Department at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach tells KUOO news it’s important property owners identify any ash trees that may be on their land…
“If they need help with tree identification, there’s lot of resources, especially at the local extension office. But if you have an ash tree, now is the time to really be thinking about is this tree worth protecting, do I need to be using insecticides to protect it, is this the time to remove and plant another tree? So it’s really time to be thinking about how to manage this tree’s health long term now.”
She also reminds us of the symptoms to be on the lookout for when it comes to emerald ash borer infestations…
“Emerald ash borer is a little tricky because they start at the top of the tree and work their way down, and so you’ll really see a thinning canopy from a distance. And especially in the green ash, what you start to see, it’s called epicormic sprouts. There will be lots of growth kind of right in the middle of the tree where, because the tree is being killed from the top down it starts to put out extra branches down lower so I call it the green ash bush, kind of there in the middle of the tree. But those are the signs the tree is probably already infested. By the time it’s down to the trunk, then, you know, it’s probably been three or four years.”
Iles says it will mean an added expense for those that have ash trees on their property…
“Unfortunately this is going to be an additional cost whether they choose to remove their ash tree or treat their ash tree, and those treatments have to be done typically every other year for as long as you want to protect the tree. So yeah, for individuals with a single tree, it’s maybe a decision whether they want to protect the tree for ten years, but for communities or golf courses or others that own lots of trees this is a big expense.”
Iles also reminds everyone it’s important not to transport firewood from one location to another, as that can spread the insect.
