REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Ohio’s Emerald Ash Borer Task Force invites citizens, municipalities and representatives of the green and forest industries to informational workshops regarding Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The workshops will be Nov. 13 in Hamilton County.

Experts will provide information about the invasive insect, backyard detection, quarantine issues, and local woodlot and landscape management options, said Melissa Brewer, ODA EAB Communications.

An afternoon workshop is scheduled for forest and green industry people. Businesses that regularly work with trees and would be affected by the quarantines in the area concerning EAB. An evening workshop will give the general public an opportunity to learn about emerald ash borer what it does to ash trees, backyard detection, and local quarantine issues. It will also get into local woodlot and landscape management options, Brewer said.

“This is a good opportunity for citizens to come and learn more about this invasive insect and what can be done in their own backyard,” she said

EAB is an ash tree-killing insect that was introduced into Michigan from Asia through wooden packing material, Brewer said. Adults are dark green, a half-inch long and an eighth of an inch wide. They fly from early May until September. The insect essentially chokes the tree to death in three to five years.

“The adult beetle lays its eggs on the bark of the tree,” Brewer said. “Those eggs hatch and the larvae burrow just underneath the bark. They eat that tissue just underneath the bark. That’s the same tissue that carries the water and the nutrients up and down the tree.”

Ohio has more than 3.8 billion ash trees; about one out of every 10 trees is an ash. It’s a staple tree in Ohio landscapes, woodlots and backyards so this is a major concern, Brewer said.

Currently the EAB Task Force is combing through the landscapes and woodlots looking for the insect.

“We’re trying to gauge what we have throughout the state and then use our quarantines to prohibit firewood and ash tree materials from leaving areas that are infested,” Brewer said. “The ultimate goal is to slow the spread of this thing and bide time for research to keep looking for tools to battle EAB.”

EAB, already in 22 Ohio counties, is extremely easily moved in firewood, ash logs and ash nursery stock. “With that being a major culprit we’ve got to educate the public about leaving that firewood at home when they go camping,” Brewer said.

The workshops will be held at the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, 2715 Reading Road, Cincinnati, 45206. The schedule is:

•Green Industry: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Industry representatives planning to attend are asked to pre-register, as information packets will be provided.

•General Public: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. No registration necessary.

For more information visit www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab or call 1-888-OHIO-EAB.

This Ohio farm news was published in the Nov. 8, 2006 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.