FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, July 2, 2024

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

Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Brookings County

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

DANR has expanded the existing state Plant Pest Quarantine to include Brookings County. The updated quarantine area now includes all of Brookings, Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner, and Union Counties. EAB has been identified in the communities of Baltic, Brandon, Brookings, Canton, Crooks, Dakota Dunes, Lennox, Sioux Falls, and Worthing. The quarantine is designed to slow the spread of EAB.  

The quarantine, which is in place year-round, prohibits the movement of firewood and ash materials out of Brookings, Lincoln, Minnehaha, Turner, and Union counties. Movement of firewood from any hardwood species, whether intended for commercial or private use, is also restricted. 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 yet this summer.

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

Treatments made early in the season can kill the young larvae before they are able to injure the tree. Property owners within a 15-mile radius of Brookings wanting to save their ash trees should contact a commercial applicator as soon as possible.

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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