CALHOUN, WIRT, GILMER, ROANE HAS INVASIVE EMERALD ASH BORER

(06/24/2011)
An invasive beetle that's killed millions of ash trees in the eastern United States is spreading across West Virginia.

The WV Department of Agriculture said yesterday that they have now discovered the spread of the borer in traps set in Webster, Wirt, Kanawha, Gilmer and Mingo counties.

Eleven counties now have the borer, previously found in Calhoun, Fayette, Morgan, Nicholas, Raleigh and Roane counties.

The state is under a federal emerald ash borer quarantine.

No firewood, except from evergreen trees, ash logs, seedlings or other regulated items can be taken out of the state without federal certification.

Agriculture Commissioner Gus R. Douglass said Friday that buying or using local firewood is a simple way to prevent the beetle from spreading.

See ASH TREES BEWARE, HERE COMES THE EMERALD BOER