Associated Press
04-25-07
Officials ask Iowans to burn wood not treated for beetle
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowans who bought a certain brand of firewood are
asked to burn it as soon as possible because it wasn't properly treated to keep
out a destructive insect called the emerald ash borer.
The Taylors Wood Products Inc. firewood was sold through the hardware chain
Menards, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture.
'Emerald ash borer is a destructive beetle that has the potential to devastate
Iowa's ash trees,' Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said in a statement. By
burning firewood from the Springfield, Ill.-based company, he said 'Iowans can
help slow the spread of this killer beetle.'
The firewood bundles found in Iowa contained wood pieces that had not been
debarked, meaning they were not compliant with a federal quarantine, according
the Iowa State University Extension's Web site.
While the beetle has not been detected yet in Iowa, Northey said is poses 'the
most serious threat to Iowa's forest and urban ash tree population since Dutch
elm disease more than 30 years ago.'
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued an emergency action notice to
Menards a week ago to remove the firewood from its sales areas, and has issued
a national recall on all Taylors wood, Northey said.
The beetle was first identified in 2002 in Michigan, and is blamed for the more
than 25 million dead or dying ash trees there. A handful of other states, including
Illinois, and parts of Canada are also battling the emerald ash borer.