Emerald Ash Borer

I came across this bumper sticker on a car back in August. You can kind of guess what it's about, but I didn't know the details.

The Emerald Ash Borer is a beetle that originated in Asia, and it was first discovered in the United States in Michigan in 2002. The beetle harmlessly eats ash tree leafs, but the beetle larvae kill ash trees by eating the inner bark. To date, millions of ash trees have been killed in the United States, and millions of dollars have been spent on eradicating the Emerald Ash Borer.

The State of Maryland reports that Prince George's County is the only Maryland county to be affected so far. The problem was discovered at a single nursery in 2003. Eradication efforts were attempted, but later tests revealed that they were not completely successful. I heard that every bill of sale at the nursery was reviewed to find the destinations of trees that were possibly infected, and eradication experts visited those destinations to destroy trees. A quarantine order was issued to prohibit anyone from moving ash trees, ash firewood and ash wood products.

Emerald Ash Borer traps can be seen throughout Bowie.

I spotted this trap in a tree along Belair Drive.

Here is another picture of the same tree.

This notice is stapled to the tree.