Ash Borer Puts Milbank Trees in Danger 

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) has confirmed the presence of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) – a small, iridescent green beetle  in Milbank. The discovery prompted the DANR to expand the existing state plant pest quarantine to include Grant County. 

The updated quarantine area now includes all of Brookings, Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner, Union and Grant counties.  Along with Milbank, the pest has been identified in 12 other cities – Baltic, Brookings, Brandon, Canton, Crooks, Dakota Dunes, Hartford, Humboldt, Lennox, Sioux Falls, Tea, and Worthing.  

The quarantine, designed to slow the spread of Emerald Ash Borer, will remain in place year-round and prohibits the movement of firewood and ash materials out of the affected counties. Movement of firewood from any hardwood species for commercial or private use, is also restricted. According to officials, If an ash tree is infested before it is cut, the wood could still contain EAB larvae. An individual split piece of ash firewood can have five or more adults emerge later this summer.

The DANR has also established an external embargo on untreated firewood entering South Dakota from all states east 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 South Dakota’s 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!” 

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 Milbank 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. 

Emerald Ash Borer adults are small, bright, metallic green beetles, about 3/8 to 1/2 inch long, with a flat back and a bullet-shaped body. Due to their size, they often go undetected. Their larvae are creamy white, flat, and have bell-shaped body segments that reach about one inch in length when fully developed

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