If you are camping this season, you may be asked by DNR
personnel and officers from the USDA Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) about your firewood. These people
are helping to prevent the spread of the emerald ash borer.
With the invasion of the emerald ash borer, 8-10 million ash
trees in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio have already been destroyed. To
help stop the spread of this voracious insect and protect the
forests and shade trees at our DNR properties, restrictions on
the movement of firewood from several counties in Indiana and Ohio
as well as the entire lower peninsula of Michigan are in place.
But, these personnel cannot do it alone. We need your help in
order to prevent the spread of this insect.
Why should I care about the Emerald Ash
Borer? Ash trees make up about six percent of
Indiana forests. There are an estimated 147 million ash trees in the
state. Ash is a valuable wood for making baseball bats and tool
handles. Many communities plant ash trees along streets
and in neighborhoods-an estimated 1.5 million ash trees are in urban
settings. Every single one of these trees is at risk if emerald ash
borer moves into an area.
In many campgrounds, ash trees provide valuable shade on hot
summer days. For example, at Salamonie
Lake, ash trees provide about 30 percent of the tree
cover in the modern campground.
The range where ash trees
grow stretches from Michigan to Texas to Florida. The estimated potential national impact of the emerald
ash borer is a loss of between 0.5 - 2 percent of the total leaf
area, and an economic loss of between $20-60 billion.
The adult beetle generally moves no more than 1/2
mile from where it emerges from under the bark of an ash tree.
However, a piece of ash firewood with beetle larvae inside it can be
transported hundreds of miles from its original location - and can
result in a new infestation that can impact forests, campgrounds and
local communities in unexpected places.
If you'd like to learn more about the potential impact of the
emerald ash borer, visit www.emeraldashborer.info.
What is the DNR doing at our State Parks,
Reservoirs and State Forests to protect our ash trees?
DNR gate attendants will require anyone bringing firewood from a
quarantined area to leave it at our gate. We will remove the
firewood and burn it each day to eliminate any chance that emerald
ash borers might emerge and survive. The DNR will also be checking
empty campsites for leftover firewood, and it will be removed and
burned.
Moving firewood from
quarantined areas in Ohio and Michigan into Indiana (or vice versa)
is a violation of federal law. Moving firewood from quarantined
areas in Indiana is a violation of state law.
Officers from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service(APHIS) will be visiting campgrounds to watch for and
remove firewood brought from quarantined areas.
Click
here to view a list of currently quarantined areas. View
this list every time you go camping since the areas may change.
We will also ensure that our concession vendors sell only
firewood from non-quarantined areas.
What can you do to help the spread of the
emerald ash borer? Don't move firewood. If you live in a
county in Indiana or Ohio that has an emerald ash borer
quarantine, you CANNOT bring firewood from home to any
Indiana state park, reservoir, or state forest. If you live in a
quarantined county in Indiana and have questions about moving
firewood to private locations, please contact the IDNR's Division of
Entomology at (317) 232-4120.
Indiana counties with
quarantines currently include:
- Steuben
- LaGrange
- Adams
- Randolph
- Huntington
- Hamilton
- Marion
Ohio counties with quarantines
currently include:
- Auglaize
- Defiance
- Erie
- Fulton
- Hancock
- Henry
- Huron
- Lorain
- Lucas
- Ottawa
- Paulding
- Sandusky
- Williams
If you live anywhere in the lower
penninsula of Michigan, do not bring firewood from home to an
Indiana state park, reservoir or state forest.
- Burn all of your firewood when you camp. Regardless of where
your wood came from, DO NOT LEAVE IT FOR OTHER CAMPERS!
- Check for quarantine changes before you pack the camper. If
new counties are quarantined, firewood cannot be brought to our
state parks, reservoirs or state forests from these counties.
You can view regularly updated maps of quarantined areas at www.emeraldashborer.info/map.cfm.
- Monitor your ash trees. If you have ash trees in your yard,
keep an eye on them. You can find out what to look for by visiting
www.emeraldashborer.info.
If you discover emerald ash borer larvae or adults, contact DNR's
exotics hotline at 1-866-663-9684.
Remember, you are the best weapon we
have against this exotic beetle that has already killed 8-10
million ash trees in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Thanks for your help in controlling its
movement!
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