What on Earth Is the Emerald Ash Borer and Why Should I Care

 (image taken from The National Park Service)

What on Earth is the Emerald Ash Borer and why should I care? This really is two separate questions, so I'll take them one at a time.

About the EAB: The emerald ash borer was discovered in southeast Michigan in 2002. Some estimates put the the number of ash trees killed as high as 100 million. It's a green beetle native to Asia - big deal right? But it's also an invasive beetle that attacks and kills ash trees. Voraciously.

This little bugger has been spotted in Concord NH and an emergency quarantine has been put in place in Merrimack County banning all species of ash (including wood chips, firewood and the like) from traveling outside the county limits.

Currently, 2 meetings are scheduled for May 2, and include the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food, the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development’s Division of Forests and Lands, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA APHIS PPQ), the U.S. Forest Service, and yours truly, Dan Mello. The state and the country are taking the spread of this pest very seriously and so are we. We are attending to learn as much as we can, not only to take a proactive approach, but to help keep the community informed in order to solicit their help, if and when it becomes necessary.

Why Should I Care? It may seem that the loss of ash trees may not affect you, especially if you don't have any on your property. But this invasion affects everyone: The excerpt below was taken from a recent study by the US Forest Service http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/news/2013/01/tree-human-health.shtml.
In an analysis of 18 years of data from 1,296 counties in 15 states, researchers found that Americans living in areas infested by the emerald ash borer, a beetle that kills ash trees, suffered from an additional 15,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 6,000 more deaths from lower respiratory disease when compared to uninfected areas. When emerald ash borer comes into a community, city streets lined with ash trees become treeless.

As we learn more about this potential threat to the seacoast, we'll keep you updated. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the insect, as well as our next Taking Root article published by seacoastonline.com.