Bluestem has covered the arrival of the emerald ash borer in Minnesota and the slowness of the state legislature to respond.
Now we learn that the evil beetle has made it to our new home state.
At the Sioux Falls Argus, Trevor Mitchell and Joe Sneve report in Destructive insect found in Sioux Falls, putting more than 80,000 ash trees at risk:
An invasive insect that's killed more than 60 million ash trees across the United States has arrived in South Dakota for the first time.
Sioux Falls and state officials held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to announce that the emerald ash borer has been discovered in the city — the first confirmed infestation in the state of South Dakota.
John Ball, an entomologist with the South Dakota State University Extension Office, said an arborist working in northern Sioux Falls reported finding what looked like emerald ash borer symptoms, and their diagnosis was confirmed Wednesday morning.
"This was an inevitability," he said. "The fact was that it was going to appear here eventually, and it happened to be this year."
South Dakota is the 33rd state with confirmed emerald ash borer cases.
Since receiving the report from the arborist earlier this month, Ball said they've identified about 250 trees in northern Sioux Falls that have the disease. And with more than 84,000 ash trees throughout the city, he said there's no question it will spread across Sioux Falls over the next 10 to 12 years.
In response, an "Emergency Plant Pest Quarantine" has been declared, restricting the movement of all ash materials in Minnehaha County, areas north of Highway 18 in Lincoln County and east of Highway 19 in Turner County.
We'll be on the look out for the EAB to make its way from Minnesota or up I-29 to Summit.
Photo: The evil beetle, the emerald ash borer.
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