The quarantine area for the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle killing ash trees throughout North America, was recently expanded to the Maine border by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, prompting state biologists to ramp up public outreach about the pest.
A quarantine area for pests such as the emerald ash borer is an area with defined boundaries that limits the transportation of wood, allowing for wood to be moved within that quarantine area, but not transported outside the area. Its purpose is to prevent the spread of the pest, or at least slow it down.
“Before this, the quarantine area was nowhere near our border,” said Colleen Teerling, forest entomologist for the Maine Forest Service. “This mean that wood — and for this quarantine, ashwood — can be moved anywhere within that pink [quarantine] area.”
The quarantine area has been expanded because several new emerald ash borer infestations were recently found throughout Quebec and New Hampshire.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Quarantine for emerald ash borer expands to Maine borders,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Aislinn Sarnacki, please follow this link to the BDN online.
