NY officials seek to set a trap for ash borer; Albany, NY

DEC and Partners to Track Possible Spread of Invasive Beetle
News from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
For more information contact: Maureen Wren, 518-402-8000
Emerald Ash Borer Traps Are Being Deployed Throughout the State
ALBANY, NY (06/05/2009; 1311)(readMedia)-- The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), along with other federal and state agencies, is setting baited traps in ash trees across upstate New York in an effort to search for possible infestations of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a tree-killing beetle. The public will soon be seeing the purple prism traps deployed in treelines throughout New York, with a concentration in areas adjacent to neighboring states and Canadian provinces that have already detected this potentially devastating invasive species.
It has been documented that a main route that enables this insect, as well as other invasive species, to spread is from moving firewood from one place to another. That is why in 2008, New York adopted regulations that ban untreated firewood from entering the state and restricts intrastate movement of untreated firewood to no more than a 50-mile radius from its source ( http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28722.html).
New York has more than 900 million ash trees, representing about 7 percent of all trees in the state, and all are at risk should this invasive, exotic pest become established. Many communities are at particular risk because ash was widely planted as a street tree after Dutch elm disease killed many urban trees.