discussion on the ALH beetle

[Clan Delaney]

Okay, so I hate to do nothing but complain. It's not productive.

I do have some questions... ennismaple - when you say they cut down every tree. do you mean every tree? Even saplings? Do the beetles attack maples of any age, or just older ones. Would/could they infest a sapling with a trunk I could wrap my hand around? And if not, would trees of this size be allowed to stand if a purge was done?

What I'm thinking is that it wouldn't be a bad idea to transplant some maple saplings to my yard in the event that we might lose the old trees. Sure, they wouldn't be ready to tap for, what, 30 years? But at least I'd have some.

What's the saying? Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

[mapleman3]

Pat I think I see a new future for you!! you have great questions, Research is what we need, the links that are on the main news page for the ALHB have some great infos. I have gone thru a lot of them and there is so much to learn. but also I think because it's still new(less than 15 years here in the americas?)they do think it's been 3-5 yrs in worcester area) they are still learning and finding out new info on it. I will have to dig in there to see if sapplings or small trees are affected. I would think they would want more protection in the larger trees and also a better food source. who knows

[Clan Delaney]

Pat I think I see a new future for you!! you have great questions, Research is what we need, the links that are on the main news page for the ALHB have some great infos. I have gone thru a lot of them and there is so much to learn. but also I think because it's still new(less than 15 years here in the americas?)they do think it's been 3-5 yrs in worcester area) they are still learning and finding out new info on it. I will have to dig in there to see if sapplings or small trees are affected. I would think they would want more protection in the larger trees and also a better food source. who knows

At least we're not up against a tree disease, like dutch elm, or some kind of fungus. You say they think the beetle's been in the Worcester area for almost 5 years? Any info on how large an area is affected, or are they still investigating?

[ennismaple]

Okay, so I hate to do nothing but complain. It's not productive.

I do have some questions... ennismaple - when you say they cut down every tree. do you mean every tree? Even saplings? Do the beetles attack maples of any age, or just older ones. Would/could they infest a sapling with a trunk I could wrap my hand around? And if not, would trees of this size be allowed to stand if a purge was done?

What I'm thinking is that it wouldn't be a bad idea to transplant some maple saplings to my yard in the event that we might lose the old trees. Sure, they wouldn't be ready to tap for, what, 30 years? But at least I'd have some.

What's the saying? Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Delaney - I don't know all the details - it occurred on the other side of the city from me and I didn't pay as much attention as I should have. I doubt they cut down sapplings. The beetle is not that small so it would be unlikely to infect a small diameter tree.

[mapleman3]

I have a few links here for you, and I copied an article about the fines for not adhering to the quarantine issue.

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dl...tegory=BEETLES

http://www.ci.worcester.ma.us/cmo/beetles.htm


The article below shows that they mean business! as far as NPR's not thinking much is being done? read through the paper the links send you, they are about as thorough as they can be at this point.


WORCESTER— The Massachusetts Asian Longhorned Beetle Cooperative Eradication Program has put businesses that deal with trees, plants and certain wood products within the quarantine zone on notice that it could slap fines on any that violate regulations prohibiting transporting such items out of the area.

The regulations are intended to limit any further inadvertent spread of the invasive and destructive beetles.

The eradication program has sent letters to nearly 1,000 nurseries, landscapers, construction companies, tree removal services, firewood dealers and other businesses that might do business within the 33-square-mile quarantine zone, which covers parts of Worcester, Holden, Boylston, West Boylston and Shrewsbury.


Karl R. Smith, an arborist and owner of Trees Unlimited in the city, said he hadn’t received the letter but had been told by a U.S. Department of Agriculture official Wednesday that the quarantine zone regulations would be strictly enforced.

“I had a meeting with USDA, and they’re saying that anybody working in the contaminated area is going to have to be certified and have stickers on their vehicles, and anybody who’s not complying is going to be fined,” Mr. Smith said.

The two-page letter mailed to businesses this week notifies them that the eradication program will “conduct compliance surveillance within the regulated area” and that “fines can result if businesses are not in compliance.”

The amount of the fines weren’t disclosed in the letter, and officials contacted about the fines didn’t return calls by press time.

The eradication program, which is led by the USDA and includes state and city officials, also opened a disposal and processing center in Worcester yesterday for tree companies and other businesses working in the quarantine zone.

The roughly 2.5-acre facility is located in a parking lot and grassy area off Ararat Street near Frontage Road. The property is owned by Saint-Gobain, which agreed to allow the eradication program to use it as a disposal center, said City Manager Michael V. O’Brien.

The disposal center is not open to residents, and businesses must send employees to a two-hour workshop to be certified to use the facility on a regular basis, officials said. Businesses that are not certified will be required to apply for a permit each time they wish to drop off regulated items at the center.

Two-hour certification classes are scheduled to be held at Worcester Technical High School’s Fuller Auditorium next week on Wednesday and Saturday. Additional classes will be held later, officials said.

Businesses have been instructed to use their own equipment at job sites in the quarantine zone to chip up trees and limbs from host trees — hardwoods susceptible to Asian longhorned beetles. However, businesses are being told to bring any large host trees or stumps that they can’t reduce to chips no larger than 1 inch by 1 inch to the Ararat Street disposal center for processing, officials said.

The facility eventually will be one of two locations in the city where infested trees, and perhaps vulnerable host trees, will be ground down to the consistency of mulch by industrial wood chippers.

Mr. O’Brien, the city manager, said hours of operation will be limited to reduce the impact of the noisy machines on people who live nearby.

“We’ll make sure that we’re sensitive to the neighborhood and also to the needs of Saint-Gobain,” he said.

The prohibition against taking certain things out of the quarantine zone includes live beetles, firewood, green lumber and live plants, including nursery stock, as well as dead plants and clippings, according to the letter. Also regulated are logs, stumps, roots, and branches and twigs from a number of host tree species, including maple, horse chestnut, mimosa, birch, ash, sycamore, willow, mountain ash and elm.

Arborist Joseph J. Dillon, who owns Dillon Tree Service in Shrewsbury, said he had no problem complying with the regulations on any work he may do in the regulated area, but he wasn’t so sure about part-time, home-based tree trimmers who take a few jobs here and there to make extra money.

“You’ve got guys who do trees on weekends. They cut it up and give it to a friend for firewood. Maybe they take it down to the Cape,” Mr. Dillon said.

“Some of these chippers aren’t set right, and they don’t chip the tree properly,” he added. “If your blades are dull, they’ll shred the tree, but not chip it right.”

Mr. Smith, the Worcester arborist, said that while he shouldn’t be unduly inconvenienced by the new regulations, the Asian longhorned beetle already is having a profound effect on his business.

“People are calling and canceling jobs because they think the city or state is going to come take their trees out. They were trees we were going to be pruning, but people are assuming the trees will be removed because they’re host trees,” Mr. Smith said.

USDA and city officials have stressed that no decisions have been made on which trees, if any, other than infested ones, will be cut down to eradicate the destructive beetles here. In other places where the beetles have been found, healthy host trees as far away from an infested tree as a quarter of a mile were cut down as a precaution.

If it comes to that here, Mr. Smith said, he hopes to regain some of the work he’s losing now by contracting with the eradication program to remove host trees.

“But I’d rather not have that work,” he said. “I’d rather the beetles not be here at all.”

[ennismaple]

Here's the link for the ALHB regulated area in Toronto:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/...sialonge.shtml

[mapleman3]

Here is a very good presentation, really shows everything about the beetle, the photography is excellent.

http://www.ci.worcester.ma.us/cmo/pd...esentation.pdf

[mapleman3]

check this presentation out.... it's fantastic

http://www.ci.worcester.ma.us/cmo/pd...esentation.pdf

[markcasper]

I believe I had read at one time that its anything over 1 inch. LUCKILY, ALB doesn't spread as fast as the emerald ash borer for which that darn thing has showed up in Wisconsin now. Its not a easy thing for any of us, no matter where you live. With the mass transit just about every place, I always fear of waking up every day to find out they found it at XYZ.

The ALB was found in Chicago several years ago and for all I know they believe that it has been fully eradicated there. Thats not to say that it isn't in another location just waitint to be found.

I am investing $20,000 + this year, so I know what your talking about. Its not a good feeling, yet I think I am safe for at least 10 years.

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

This is one nasty critter, after talking with a couple foresters about this, the confirmed my worst nightmare. If this was to spread north to VT NH, Maine, it could destroy the whole Maple industry for 60+ years. Lets hope that the quarantine works..