An invasive beetle species wreaking havoc on trees in Prince George?s County could spread to other parts of Maryland, officials said.
The emerald ash borer kills ash trees by feasting on their inner bark, cutting off the flow of water. The Asian beetle was first spotted in the nation near Detroit in 2002 and has since spread to Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Prince George?s County and Ontario, Canada, said Mitch Irwan, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture. It probably came to Maryland from a Michigan nursery farmer who was illegally transporting quarantined trees, Irwan said. Officials fear the pest may spread outside of the Brandywine/Clinton area of Prince George?s if the bugs fly out or if quarantined lumber or trees are removed.
“Are we going to get hit? I don?t know,” said Southern Maryland Regional Forester Dave Gailey. “The Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Maryland Forest Service are aggressively pursuing it and will hopefully stop it.”
The organizations have quarantined all ash trees in Prince George?s. They have destroyed about 1,000 ash trees in a 500-acre area and are planning to destroy the trees located in an 8,000-acre area, turning them into mulch before spring.
Michigan has lost 700 million ash trees due to the bug. The nursery industry has lost $10 million in sales per year, and the estimated total cost of tree removal is $550 million.
The beetle has already taken its toll on the nursery industry in Prince George?s County, with one business losing between $20,000 and $30,000, Gailey said. Losses could exceed $227 million in the Baltimore area if the emerald ash borer were to become established, according to the Maryland Department of Agriculture?s Web site. Ash is the most common tree in Baltimore, with about 293,000 trees, or 10.4 percent of the city?s total tree population.
