Chrisbell Bednar, executive director of Greene County Parks, said she had expected the pest would eventually enter Greene County. It has already been found in Montgomery, Preble, Warren, Butler and Clark counties. “It was just a matter of time,” Bednar said.
The park agency, which with 2,500 acres of forest land oversees the largest number of ash trees in the county, will practice good forestry management, but is not expected to develop a plan for removing trees unless they pose a danger to the public, Bednar said.
The ash borer attacks the layer of the ash that transports nutrients, slowly killing the tree. It is often discovered by the D-shaped holes borer larva leave in the tree’s bark.
Barbara Mills, horticulturist for the OSU extension office, said Thais Reiff, an area ash borer specialist, investigated the borer at an undisclosed Beavercreek residence a few days ago and state officials confirmed the find Tuesday.
There are treatments for home-owners looking to save their ash trees, Mills said. Information can be found on the university's Web site, ashalert.osu.edu .
Fifty counties are under a quarantine restricting the movement of firewood with the threat of a fine up to $4,000 to prevent transporting the pest. The newest counties being Greene, Ashland, Richland, Summit and Morrow counties.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2342 or cmagan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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