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Final Asian Longhorned Beetle Quarantine Lifted

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Jul 12, 2006 9:27 pm US/Central

Final Asian Longhorned Beetle Quarantine Lifted

CHICAGO (AP) ― Agriculture officials claimed a victory Wednesday as they lifted the state's last Asian longhorned beetle quarantine zone eight years after the insect first was discovered in Illinois.

"Today ... we are able to take down the last quarantine area set up to prevent the movement of the beetle and rid Illinois of the invasive pest," said state Department of Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke.

The quarantine zone around Oz Park in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood restricted how people could remove and dispose of firewood, lumber, trees and branches in the area.

Although the state's quarantine zones have been lifted, officials will continue to inspect trees in all formerly quarantined areas through 2007, the Department of Agriculture said in a statement. There have been three years of negative inspections -- four are necessary for confirmation the beetle is eradicated.

But even as agriculture officials celebrate the apparent disappearance of one tree-killing beetle, they are dealing with a new pest blamed for destroying millions of ash trees across the Midwest.

The emerald ash borer recently was found by a homeowner in a rural subdivision near Lily Lake, about 40 miles west of Chicago in central Kane County. But officials have said it's possible the pest has been there as long as five years and has spread. It is believed to have found its way from China to the United States in shipping crates, possibly as long as 15 years ago.

State officials are planning a survey to determine whether the bug has spread beyond the subdivision where it was found and to declare it a nuisance, which would allow the state to destroy infested ash trees.

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