Rushmore State News

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) has confirmed the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Milbank, South Dakota. As a result, the existing State Plant Pest Quarantine has been expanded to include Grant County. The quarantine now covers all of Brookings, Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner, Union, and Grant counties.

The pest has also been identified in 13 communities: Baltic, Brookings, Brandon, Canton, Crooks, Dakota Dunes, Hartford, Humboldt, Lennox, Sioux Falls, Tea, Worthing, and Milbank. The quarantine aims to slow the spread of EAB by prohibiting the movement of firewood and ash materials out of these counties. This restriction applies year-round.

Firewood from any hardwood species is restricted from movement for both commercial and private use. Even if an ash tree is infested before being cut down, it may still contain EAB larvae. A single piece of ash firewood can have five or more adults emerge during the summer.

An external embargo on untreated firewood entering South Dakota has also been established. This applies to all states east of South Dakota's eastern border 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 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 applied early in the season can kill young larvae before they harm trees. Property owners within a 15-mile radius of Milbank who wish to save their ash trees should contact a commercial applicator promptly.

EAB is a beetle that feeds on all North American ash species. 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/.

Information from this article can be found here.