Emerald ash borer (EAB), a destructive insect that has killed over 30 million ash trees in the Midwest, was found in northern Illinois in June of 2006, and most recently in Rantoul, Illinois in September of 2010. This find resulted in Champaign County being designated as an EAB quarantine zone. This means the movement of all “regulated articles” (ash trees and all non-coniferous firewood) outside of the quarantine zone is prohibited. For a fuller definition of “regulated articles” please go to www.illinoiseab.com. This web link also provides up to date information on this pest.
Since the spread of this insect has occurred primarily through firewood from infested trees, we are asking homeowners to use caution when purchasing firewood. Do not purchase firewood that has come from infested areas, or move firewood from other states! Since it is difficult to identify firewood sources, limit your purchases to locally obtained firewood.
Please note that there is a native ash borer, as well as many emerald ash borer look-alikes. Check the emerald ash borer information page at http://emeraldashborer.info for positive identification, and also to determine if the tree you are examining is an ash tree.
If you think you have found an emerald ash borer, please call the local University of Illinois Extension office at 333-7672, or call the City of Champaign Forestry Section at 403-4770 and we will forward the information to the Extension office.
The City has put all species of ash on our unapproved species list, no longer permitting the planting of ash on City rights-of way. We will continue to prune ash trees through our normal cyclic pruning, but will no longer take service requests for ash trees outside of the section we are currently pruning. In these cases the citizen has the following options:
- The City can remove the tree, and replace with a new tree if there is adequate spacing (a minimum of 50 feet between parkway trees).
- The adjacent homeowner can contract with a certified arborist to prune the tree.
- The homeowner can wait until the tree will be pruned through cyclic pruning.
There are insecticide options for protecting ash trees from EAB; however, these require application on an annual or biennial basis for the life of the tree. Because of the cost of treatment and the high number of City owned trees, the City will not apply insecticides to protect ash on City rights-of-way. Adjacent homeowners may apply insecticides to trees on rights-of way, but the cost in these treatments would be assumed by the homeowner.
