Alert: The invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) has been discovered in three new Oregon counties this summer, according to the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture (ODA) and Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF). The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) laboratory in Maryland has officially confirmed EAB in Marion and Yamhill counties. A third site on the border of Clackamas and Marion is believed to harbor EAB. Still, state officials first need to confirm with the federal lab the identity of the insects found there. 

Detections:

• Yamhill County: One adult beetle was found in a trap in the Gaston area – one of 197 traps distributed by ODF and USDA APHIS in the Willamette Valley. The trap was located just inside Yamhill County about seven miles from Forest Grove, where EAB was first detected in Oregon in late June 2022.

• Clackamas County: Ash trees in the Elliot Prairie area east of Woodburn show evidence of larvae feeding with several trees in marked decline. Several ash trees in a site along Butte Creek north of Mt. Angel and south of Hubbard also showed signs of EAB infestation. Samples have been sent to a federal lab for official confirmation.

• Marion County: Five adult EABs have been found in traps set along the Pudding River south of Woodburn and west of Mt. Angel.

What’s next: ADA will be conducting intensive searches in the areas surrounding the new sites in Marion and Clackamas counties to find out whether EAB shows up further away, said Cody Holthouse, compliance and regulatory manager at ODA. The ODA is currently working out the details of a quarantine to limit the movement of ash, olive, and white fringe tree wood, and other materials in these new counties, similar to the one in Washington County. That quarantine restricts the movement of several tree materials, including but not limited to logs, green lumber, nursery stock, scion wood, bud wood, chips, mulch, stumps, roots, branches, and firewood of hardwood species.

For more information on EAB and an up-to-date list of resources, go to ODA.direct/EAB 

Suspected EAB infestations can be reported over the phone at 1-866-INVADER or online at OregonInvasivesHotline.org/reports/create