Year: 2023

Disposing of Woody Storm Debris from Asian Longhorned Beetle Host Trees

Posted on by Laurel Downs

Hurricane season is upon us. Please stay safe!

The following is an important Alert from our friends at USDA APHIS and Clemson University’s Department of Plant Industry regarding the South Carolina Asian Longhorned Beetle Eradication Program in light of Storm Idalia:

——— NOTICE ———-

If you live in Charleston/Dorchester counties in South Carolina and are in the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) quarantine, please be safe through storm Idalia.

Please dispose of woody storm debris from ALB host trees at the Bees Ferry Road Convenience Center, 1344 Bees Ferry Road, 29414, or the Hollywood Convenience Center, 5305 Highway 165, 29449. Any wood debris half an inch or more in diameter is considered regulated material and must be disposed of properly. Doing this helps prevent spreading the insect to other areas.

>>See Here for the South Carolina ALB Regulatory Boundary<<

ALB host trees include all species of the following 12 genera: Ash, Birch, Elm, Golden raintree, Horsechestnut/buckeye, Katsura, London planetree/sycamore, Maple, Mimosa, Mountain ash, Poplar, and Willow. The ALB quarantine applies to the beetle and all its life stages, firewood of all hardwood species, green lumber, and other living, dead, cut, or fallen materials which may include nursery stock, logs, stumps, roots, branches, and debris half an inch or more in diameter of all ALB host trees.

If you have any questions, please call 843-973-8329.

For information on how best to protect yourself from high winds and flooding, please visit https://www.ready.gov/hurricanes.

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Additional Web Resources:

REMINDER: Firewood, yard waste, and other wood and tree products could potentially contain beetles. Don’t take firewood from your backyard along with you when you go camping, fishing, or any activity where you might use firewood. Instead, buy local bundled firewood at or near your destination, or gather firewood on-site when permitted.

protect south carolina forests billboards

 

WEBINAR: More Bugs are Coming

Posted on by Leigh Greenwood

Mark your calendars for the upcoming webinar “More Bugs are Coming… What this means for your trees and what you can do about it!” on Wednesday, September 13th from 4PM to 5PM EDT. This webinar will discuss forest pest impacts in urban areas- which are some of the first places that forest pests usually establish and infest. Don’t Move Firewood’s team is promoting this webinar opportunity because firewood from urban and suburban backyards is at particularly high risk of containing forest pests for this exact reason- and it’s great to hear the other end of the conversation on what these pests mean to people and nature around cities, towns, and parks.

More Bugs are Coming… What this means for your trees and what you can do about it!

Wednesday, September 13th from 4PM to 5PM EDT.

Register via Zoom here: bit.ly/hthc-webinar 

In just over two decades, the emerald ash borer has dealt a devastating blow to ash trees in our nation’s forests – in cities and beyond. New research suggests that as the climate changes, threats to trees like EAB will only increase. The Nature Conservancy will host an hour-long webinar about the future of insect and pathogen treats to trees, featuring guest researcher Emma J. Hudgins, a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne and author of the recent paper “Urban tree deaths from invasive alien forest insects in the United States, 2020- 2050.” Emma will present her work in collaboration with USDA Forest Service researchers on projections of tree mortality, the potential costs, and the cities at risk from invasive alien forest insects across the USA. The Nature Conservancy’s Asia Mae Somboonlakana, coordinator of Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities (HTHC), will share how tools like HTHC can be used by tree care professionals and civic ecologists alike to help get ahead of the next worst threat to our trees and forests by checking these trees for common signs and symptoms of known and unknown invasive alien forest insects in your community.

Shareable Flyer here: TreeInsectsWebinarFlyer

WEBINARS: Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week 2023!

Posted on by Laurel Downs

Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week is May 22-28th of 2023 and we are ready with some excellent webinars!

This year, Emerald ash borer (EAB) Awareness Week is May 22-28th. In addition to our normal EAB awareness outreach, we at Don’t Move Firewood are highlighting this notorious tree pest by hosting a few EAB-focused webinars. Hear from researchers and managers alike over the course of three live webinars in two days. We talk about communication strategies and public acceptance of EAB management, what’s going on in Oregon and other states as EAB spreads in the West, and findings on EAB survivability in extreme cold temperatures. Read on to learn more and view the recordings.

Shareable Flyer here: EAB Awareness Week 2023 Webinars

To start us off, Dr. Ingrid Schneider out of the University of Minnesota will join us to talk about her research on modern communication strategies and public acceptance of emerald ash borer management.

Wednesday, May 24th at 3-4pm EST

Addressing EAB: Understanding and influencing public acceptance of management options as communication technology evolves

About the research:
Public information may improve understanding of and support for management actions, including invasive species like EAB. In the age of increasing information and accelerating technology, research reveals that increasingly engaging information has a greater impact on attitudes and behaviors than less-engaging information. In response to calls for expanded research on the role of information in invasive species perceptions and management, we address current public acceptance of select management approaches to EAB as well as if, and how, increasingly engaging information impacts visitor acceptance of and preferences for management response to EAB.

 

Next up we will hear from Responding to emerald ash borer’s western spread: management updates from Oregon and others, plus outreach strategies by DMF

Dr. Cody Holthouse out of Oregon’s Department of Agriculture, Insect Pest Prevention and Management Program and state plant regulatory official joins Don’t Move Firewood to talk about the ongoing efforts to manage EAB since it’s discovery in Oregon nearly one year ago. We also hear from Dr. Frank Etzler, State Survey Coordinator and Natural Resource Section Manager from Montana Department of Agriculture with updates and actions they’re taking to prepare for EAB infestation. Plus – find out what resources and outreach services are available from the Don’t Move Firewood campaign. Let’s slow the spread!

Thursday, May 25th at 1pm EST (10am PST)

Responding to Emerald ash borer’s western spread: management updates from Oregon and others, plus outreach strategies by DMF

 

Later we will hear from Dr. Meghan Duell out of The Couchiching Conservancy in Orillia, Ontario about her research findings on cold tolerance of EAB and implications for survivability and spread.

Thursday, May 25th at 3pm EST

Extreme Cold Tolerance of the Emerald Ash Borer

About the research:
Emerald ash borers must be able to survive winter in their larval stage in order to emerge and spread as adults the following summer. Cold temperatures are a potential barrier to their success, especially in their northernmost range and invasion front in Canada. However, emerald ash borers are able to acclimatize to new thermal conditions very quickly and can survive extremely low temperatures (around -60 °F). The consequences of this extreme cold tolerance are that low winter temperatures may not be as effective for limiting spread as hoped.

 

Thank you to all our speakers and attendees!

 

Webinar: New Date for Meet the Firewood Team

Posted on by Laurel Downs

We have rescheduled our Meet the Don’t Move Firewood Team webinar for April 6th at 11am Mountain Time (1pm Eastern).

It’s a busy time of year for invasive species awareness. The last full week of February this year was National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW); International Day of Forests is March 21, and Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month is April. Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week and PlayCleanGo Week are right around the corner as well. In light of the events associated with these campaigns, here at Don’t Move Firewood, we thought it’d be great time to reach out with one of our popular Meet the Don’t Move Firewood Team webinars! We’ll discuss our education and outreach efforts- what the campaign does, why it’s important, how you can access our many resources, and what we’ve got to offer both the everyday firewood user as well as professionals in the field of forest health. And since the world of firewood regulations and outreach is an ever-changing landscape, we’ll be sure to go over our annual review of the nationally relevant Firewood Comparison Report to discuss updates since its publication early last year.

So tell your colleagues, tell your friends – let’s talk firewood!

UPDATE: thank you to all who participated in our Meeth the Firewood Team webinar!

Access the recording of this webinar on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP2RgUM7Fnw

Click here to access the pdf version of the Power Point: DMF-TNC_Webinar_April6_2023

WEBINAR: Meet the Don’t Move Firewood Team for NISAW

Posted on by Leigh Greenwood

National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) is February 20-26th 2023, and here at Don’t Move Firewood we thought it’d be great to celebrate with one of our popular Meet the Don’t Move Firewood Team webinars! We’ll discuss our education and outreach efforts- what the campaign does, why it’s important, how you can access our many resources, and what we’ve got to offer both the everyday firewood user as well as professionals in the field of forest health.

UPDATE, WE HAVE POSTPONED this informative hour of talking about the Don’t Move Firewood Campaign! We will reschedule to April 2023. Stay tuned, and apologies for the inconvenience. The new date and time will be posted here once selected.