Travelers reminded to leave firewood at home as Michigan’s traditional travel season approaches.
Travelers reminded to leave firewood at home as Michigan’s traditional travel season approaches.
LANSING – Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of the summer travel season in Michigan, and Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Dan Wyant today reminded travelers to leave firewood at home during their travels this weekend and throughout the year. Governor Granholm has declared May 22-28, 2005, “Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Awareness Week,” to increase public understanding and awareness of EAB.
“Movement of firewood has caused artificial spread of EAB to parts of our state away from the generally infested quarantined area in southeast Michigan,” said Wyant. “Camping and campfires are a great Michigan tradition, and should continue to be so, but it is extremely important to leave firewood at home and buy what you need when you get to your travel destination.”
EAB is an invasive insect native to Asia, discovered in Michigan in 2002. EAB attacks ash trees in its larval stage, feeding undetected under the bark, which disrupts water and nutrient flow, eventually killing the tree. An estimated 15 million ash trees are already dead or dying in Michigan due to EAB infestations.
Twenty Michigan counties and 19 isolated infestations have been quarantined, making it illegal to move hardwood firewood or other regulated articles out of the quarantine into the balance of the Lower Peninsula. In addition, firewood and other regulated articles may not be moved out of the remainder of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, designated by the quarantine as a “regulated area.” This means NO HARDWOOD FIREWOOD CAN BE MOVED INTO THE UPPER PENINSULA or into surrounding states. Travelers are reminded that if they move regulated firewood, it could be confiscated, and fines could be issued to prevent the spread of EAB.
Michigan quarantined counties include: Branch, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Saginaw, St. Clair, Shiawassee, Washtenaw, and Wayne.
As part of its EAB education and outreach efforts, MDA will begin airing radio public service announcements today, and billboards are scheduled to go up across the state beginning this week. The billboards and radio messages will stress the importance of not moving firewood. Cooperative EAB Response Project partners, including U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Michigan State University (MSU), Michigan Department of Natural Resources, local Conservation Districts, and the timber and wood products industry, will help with education and outreach efforts through special events, public meetings, brochures, posters and other activities.
To further strengthen efforts to prevent firewood movement into the U.P., a livestock and plant checkpoint will officially open this week at the Mackinac Bridge. This checkpoint will help the state protect the U.P. from various livestock diseases and invasive exotic insects, including bovine tuberculosis (TB) and EAB.
“If you think you may have inadvertently violated the quarantine, burn the firewood immediately,” added Wyant. “You can also help protect our ash resource by calling the state’s EAB hotline at (866) 325-0023 to report any suspected EAB quarantine violation or signs of EAB infestation.”
For more information on the Emerald Ash Borer, visit MDA’s Web site at www.michigan.gov/eab or visit www.emeraldashborer.info. You can also call the department’s Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division at (517) 373-1087 or contact your regional MDA or MSU Extension Office
