The entire state of North Carolina is currently under quarantine thanks to a troublesome beetle, the emerald ash borer.

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service (NCDA&CS) announced the statewide quarantine last Thursday, and after the discovery of borers in several counties of North Carolina, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler signed an emergency order to expand the quarantine to include the entire state.

In 2002, emerald ash borers or EABs, which are foreign to the U.S., were first detected in Michigan and were responsible for the decline of millions of ash trees across the country. North Carolina now reigns as the 15th state in the U.S. to issue a statewide quarantine.

Ranging from one-fourth to a half-inch long, the adult beetle is slender and metallic green, and typically found in Midwestern and Eastern states, Agricultural Commissioner Steve Troxler describes the beetle as a “highly destructive pest.”

“Our staff have now turned up evidence of emerald ash borers in the central, eastern and western parts of the state, including areas near the borders with Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina,” said Agricultural Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Virginia also has a statewide quarantine in effect, and Tennessee has quarantines in nearly half of its 95 counties.”

WXIA-TV 11Alive reported that the quarantine permits the in-state movement of “hardwood firewood and plants and plant parts of the ash tree, including living, dead, cut or fallen, green lumber, stumps, roots, branches and composted and uncomposted chips.” Yet, there is a restriction on the shipment of firewood into non-quarantined areas, which is the fastest method of transportation for the borers.

Since August, Guilford County officials have been searching for the beetle that could cause conflict in Greensboro.

Ash trees are quite common in the Triad, and members of the Guilford County Cooperative Extension and Department of Agriculture have set purple traps to catch the emerald ash borers.

Ashleigh Wilson – Social Media Specialist

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