FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 3, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Munyon, dana.munyon@state.sd.us

Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Lennox, SD

PIERRE S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) has confirmed emerald ash borer (EAB) in Lennox, South Dakota.

The community of Lennox is in the existing quarantine area, which includes all of Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner, and Union Counties. The quarantine is designed to slow the spread of EAB.

“Our team was alerted to a suspected infestation by an arborist”, said Marcus Warnke, State Forester, “After inspection, EAB was confirmed in the wood of an infested ash tree.”

EAB has been positively identified in three counties, Lincoln, Minnehaha, and Union and seven communities including Baltic, Brandon, Canton, Crooks, Dakota Dunes, Lennox, Sioux Falls, and Worthing.

The quarantine, which is in place year-round, prohibits the movement of firewood and ash materials out of the quarantined counties. Movement of firewood from any hardwood species, whether intended for commercial or private use, is also restricted. DANR has also established an external embargo on untreated firewood entering South Dakota from all states east of the eastern border of South Dakota and all counties where EAB is known to exist in other states.

“We all need to work together to slow the spread of EAB,” said DANR Secretary Hunter Roberts. “With the summer camping season here, firewood is the most common way EAB is moved from one location to another. Please follow the quarantine and embargo restrictions and buy it where you burn it!”

If an ash tree is infested before it is cut, the wood may still contain EAB larvae. An individual split piece of ash firewood can have five or more adults emerge in the summer.

EAB is a boring beetle that feeds on all species of North American ash. It was first detected in the United States in 2002, and in South Dakota in 2018.

For more information about EAB or to report a suspected sighting please visit https://emeraldashborerinsouthdakota.sd.gov/.

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