Agency Searching For Emerald Ash Borer
The Agency of Agriculture is trying to determine if an Asian beetle that kills ash trees has reached Vermont.
So the agency has set out 480 traps in eight counties seeking to lure the invasive emerald ash borer. The beetle first turned up in Detroit in 2002. Since then the beetle has killed millions of ash trees in the Midwest and they have been found in Quebec.
State Entomologist Jon Turmel tells the Burlington Free Press the ash borer could wipe out Vermont's ash trees in the same way Dutch elm disease nearly eliminated that tree species.
The state is using $28-thousand-dollars in federal funding to hang traps in or near ash trees throughout Chittenden, Addison, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orleans and Washington counties.