Bill: 00:00

We are here for the inaugural University of Illinois Extension podcast on natural resources, and we're here with John Church. Now John has been with the University of Illinois Extension for quite a number of years. Do you do you want to confess how many years you've been with Extension?

John: 00:18

For 33 years.

Bill: 00:19

33 years. So, the information we will get is well seasoned and steeped with experience. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is the emerald ash borer. What is the emerald ash borer, John?

John: 00:36

Well, the reason, Bill, we wanted to talk about emerald ash borer today is because we're in the middle, or soon we'll be in the middle of the peak flight season for the emerald ash borer. And the emerald ash borer is a new insect, relatively new to the state of Illinois. It was first discovered, so to speak, in 2006 in Kane County, but since that time it has spread throughout Northeastern Illinois as well as into Central Illinois. It probably was in the state prior to 2006, but, that was the first time it was actually identified.

Bill: 01:06

So is this one of those imported insects that it came from someplace else?

John: 01:11

It's a, exotic, so to speak, invasive type of insect that was introduced, from Asia probably through packing materials, wood materials, and probably originally came through the state of Michigan. Michigan has had the problem for a number of years now and was identified up there probably 10 years or so ago at least, and, we think that's probably where it came through.

Bill: 01:36

So why is it a problem to begin with?

John: 01:38

Emerald ash borer is a small little insect when you look at it as far as looking at the adult, but the adult lays eggs on the bark of ash trees and when it lays that egg, the egg eventually hatches, of course, into a larva and the larva is a little grub type appearing insect and it gets under the bark and it tunnels under the bark of ash trees. And what we're seeing in Michigan and now in parts of Northeastern Illinois is that it's just basically devastating all of the ash trees that are present throughout the area.

Bill: 02:12

So what signs should you look for for beginning infection?

John: 02:17

That that's part of the problem with emerald ash borer is that the infestation can be present before the signs show up. And so by the time the signs of the infestation show up, it's often too late to do any treatment. But what people should watch for are the exit holes and those are where the adults, after the larva pupates and turns back into an adult, they will exit out through the bark of the tree and they leave an exit hole. And it's a very small, and people probably won't even notice it if you're not looking for it, d shaped like the letter d.

John: 02:50

And, you can look for that and usually that's gonna be again in the early stages of infestation higher up in the tree where people probably won't see it.

Bill: 02:58

Right.

John: 02:59

But as it gets later in the infestation, you'll start to notice them further down maybe like at eye level. And so you want to watch for that. You wanna watch for things that make the tree look like they're declining. Now there are other things that make ash trees decline, but in this case, the symptoms could be somewhat similar. Where some of the branches towards the crown of the tree start to die back and then also, to the point of where you'll start to see under some of that die back, you'll see new flashes of growth trying to come come out of the tree.

Bill: 03:28

Mhmm.

John: 03:29

So those are some telltale signs that the average homeowner can can see.

Bill: 03:33

So what do you do if you see these signs?

John: 03:36

Well, unfortunately, and I guess we have to be a little careful how we say this, but by the time we see those signs, it's probably a good idea to be planning for what that replacement tree will be.

Bill: 03:46

Oh, dear.

John: 03:47

Now there are some discussions about whether and when to use insecticide treatments. And there are insecticides that will do a fairly good job on the emerald ash borer. But the problem is again, you have to do that every year and most of the trees that are infested probably are infested to a degree that maybe the insecticide treatment, even though it might kill what's in there, it can't repair the damage.

Bill: 04:14

Right.

John: 04:14

And, so if you're going to use insecticide treatments, it really needs to start before you see any signs of damage and probably to a certain extent it's best done in areas that don't have an infestation in their general area yet. Because again there's a certain assumption that those trees are probably infested and will probably have to be replaced.

Bill: 04:34

So it might be that a community wide effort might be the way to go?

John: 04:38

What we're starting to see is many communities in Northeastern Illinois are starting community replacement programs, is what it's boiling down to. Because of the cost and the routine nature of having to do the insecticide treatments is more than what most average homeowners and to a certain extent most local governments want to try to take on. So what we're seeing is that especially as trees look infested or have died, those are being taken out and replaced. Or what we have seen now is just on a routine basis, maybe a third of the ash trees, if they're street type trees, for local governments, they're maybe taking out like a third of those each year and starting a replacement program.

Bill: 05:18

I see. So is there any kind of reporting system where if you think, a neighbor has emerald ash borer or, you suspect you do, that you should be contacting?

John: 05:34

as far as tracking where the damage is, basically the Illinois Department of Agriculture is that agency that does the tracking. They're primarily just interested in tracking it in a particular community that is present in the community. They aren't particularly, worried about whether they track every tree that's infested once they know it's in a given community.

Bill: 05:53

I see.

John: 05:53

But they do want to keep tracking its movement and location in new communities. So if you think you have emerald ash borer, the first point of contact for homeowners is actually the University of Illinois Extension Office, the master gardeners in that extension office. They have been trained to work with homeowners to talk about whether or not, first of all, there's an ash tree and then second of all, whether it may be emerald ash borer. If they think it could be, then they'll give the homeowner some guidance on how to go about either reporting it or dealing with it or whatever. In a community sense for local officials and homeowners too if they want to, they can contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

John: 06:33

Their office, is in DeKalb and that would be for for Northeastern Illinois where most of the the issue is currently or Springfield statewide. And the Illinois Department of Agriculture, then may decide to send someone out to look at it depending on the location and the situation.

Bill: 06:50

Right. And, for people that are listening from outside of Illinois, there probably are similar efforts from the extension services in those states as well.

John: 07:01

That's a good point. Most state Extension programs, University Extension programs in most states, are dealing with the issue and also at the federal level, the USDA is working with the state, Departments of Agriculture. So, on a federal level, there's somewhat of a coordinated effort too.

Bill: 07:21

Very good. And if they want more information, how can they contact you, John?

John: 07:26

Well, they can contact us here at our office. We're with the University of Illinois Extension. They can do that by email at churchj@illinois.edu or they can phone 815-395-5710. We would probably encourage folks to contact their local Extension office to begin with, but certainly they can feel free to contact our office or again the Illinois Department of Agriculture or their state department of agriculture.

Bill: 07:55

And we wanna be sure to mention that there are 2 websites you can go to to, get more information. Those are www.emeraldashborer.info and then illinoiseap.com Very good.

Bill: 08:31

Thank you very much. This has been Bill Weisner and

Bill and John: 08:35

John Church.

Bill: 08:36

Very good.

Bill: 08:37

And, our our next podcast is going to be on the, conservation stewardship program, and we hope you can tune in for that next week.

John: 08:46

Great. Thank you, Bill. Bye.