The infestation area of Asian longhorned beetles in Ohio seems to be limited to Bethel, Ohio, a town about 30 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The infested area is now under quarantine, and the news articles I've been seeing indicate an infestation that is around 3 to 5 years old. Of course, we are trying to keep up to date on this! Here is the central link for Ohio's Department of Agriculture Asian longhorned beetle page... http://www.agri.ohio.gov/TopNews/asianbeetle/

In some parts of the country, it is illegal to move firewood of any kind. In other places, only some types of wood are legally restricted. And in other places, there are no rules at all. It is confusing, of course.

This brings me to a recent question I got from Carmen, a visitor to this site. The place names on this email have been slightly changed to make it anonymous.

Dear Don't Move Firewood,

A reader, Bill, asked us recently...

Dear Don't Move Firewood

In his bid for an Eagle Scout badge, Andrew Parent led a neighborhood survey for Asian longhorned beetle in Springfield, Massachusetts. Under the guidance of a USDA Forest Service agent, Parent mapped his neighborhood and rallied a crew to inspect all the trees for signs of beetle infestation.

The state of Ohio just expanded its emerald ash borer quarantine to include 14 more counties -- and they mean business.

Fines are up to $4,000 for moving ash trees, parts of ash trees, and all hardwood firewood into or out of the restricted 67 counties in Ohio. Just one more reason not to move firewood!

But no matter what state you live in, the lesson is the same: Moving firewood helps tree-killing pests like the emerald ash borer move from one town to the next.

I've been reading a lot in the news about quarantines in various states- how they are expanding, how new infestations mean new quarantines, and other ideas. I think that the constant shifts in these borders should signal something to the public, and by that, I mean to YOU... you don't want to rely on a quarantine boundary to make your decisions. These things are imperfect, because nobody can ever know everything there is to know about where the bugs are.
 

The good people at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) have put a firewood quarantine in the nearest county to the newly found Iowa infestation (Houston County, MN). While the EAB has yet to arrive (or, be found) in Minnesota, officials are wasting no time in starting preventative actions.

Canada has a proposed expansion of its EAB wood product quarantine zone. But is that good, or bad?

Here's the problem in a nutshell; when you create a quarantine zone, you are saying that people can't move stuff out of that area. But they are allowed to move things around within the area. So you must balance the risks within the area, to the risks presented outside of the area.

Today's editorial in the Boston Globe is correct; people taking firewood to camping areas, ski-side condos, or vacation homes could devastate New England.

It is a clear and present threat; just one piece of firewood taken from an infested area could devastate thousands of acres. Today's Boston Globe has a succinct editorial
that covers the topic very nicely in regards to the Worcester Asian longhorned beetle infestation.

The new Virginia quarantine of EAB has expanded to include Fairfax, Arlington, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties.

Todd Haymore, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), signed orders Monday (July 21, 2008) expanding the Fairfax County quarantine area to include the counties of Arlington, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park.