The deadly emerald ash borer, which has killed millions of ash trees in the American Midwest, has now spread to New York State.
Researchers at Cornell University discovered the beetle in ash trees in southwestern New York, near Randolph in Cattaraugus County. Specimens were sent to the USDA in Washington DC for confirmation -- and the results came back positive.
E. Richard Hoebke, a senior associate in entomology at Cornell, said the threat to the state's ash trees is extreme. "There is the potential," he said, "for ash as we know it to be extirpated from the landscape ... and there's not a whole lot we'll be able to do about it."
New York state has an estimated 900 million ash trees, about seven percent of the state's total number of trees. If the beetle spreads, all of the ash trees are at risk.
It is believed that the ash borer has spread from the Midwest by the transport of infested firewood, although most states prohibit the movement of untreated firewood. Officials plant to survey ash trees throughout New York state and begin to trap the beetles in an effort to assess the problem and come up with a strategy to combat the infestation.
(photo Kent Loeffler/ Cornell)
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