SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Even though Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) has not been found in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn and the state’s agriculture department are being proactive in declaring it a potential threat to the state’s black walnut trees.

Quinn has approved regulatory measures to restrict the movement of potentially infested products into Illinois as a preventative measure to protect the economic and environmental well-being of Illinois’ black walnut tree industry.

“Illinois has 2.3 million acres of forests that may contain black walnut and be susceptible to this disease,” said H.W. Devlin, acting director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA).

TCD is a highly contagious, invasive fungus spread by the walnut twig beetle, which introduces fungal spores into the tree when they form galleries in the phloem. The fungus colonizes the area around the galleries resulting in dieback, decline and, eventually, the death of the tree. Because there are no management strategies for TCD, the regulation of product movement is necessary to protect Illinois’ trees and the walnut tree industry. TCD also has been found to affect butternut trees in the state of Oregon.

“Illinois cannot institute a quarantine until we find the pest or pathogen in the state,” said Mark Cinnamon, acting state plant regulation official for the department. “Because the governor can issue a proclamation addressing the issue as a preventive measure, we had to make our case to the governor’s office.”

He said this issue has been in the news within the industry, but is taking time to reach the general population.

“We want to minimize the risk of spreading the pathogen, and regulating movement is the only way we can do that,” he explained.

Cinnamon said the pest and pathogen are not regulated by the USDA because they are native to the southwestern United States. States known to have TCD include Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

Although it doesn’t appear to be an issue in the Midwest yet, Cinnamon said TCD was confirmed in Tennessee on Aug. 5, 2010, and the infestation is believed to be 10-20 years old. The walnut decline was previously attributed to drought stress.

TCD was confirmed in Chesterfield County, Va., on June 24, 2011, and in Bucks County, Pa., on Aug. 9, 2011.

Individuals and businesses wishing to move regulated materials into or out of Illinois that originate a TCD-infested area must enter into a compliance agreement with the IDOA. The materials must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the originating state verifying compliance with the conditions of the agreement.

All regulated materials originating in areas not known to be infested must be accompanied by proof of the harvest location of the wood by county and state.

For more information regarding TCD, regulated materials, the state regulation or Quinn’s proclamation, visit the IDOA online at www.agr.state.il.us and click on the “Thousand Cankers” link.