Emerald Ash Borers were found in Oregon for the first time in 2022. Since then, they’ve started emerging from inside tree trunks at the beginning of June.
But this year, an invasive species specialist at the Oregon Department of Forestry found a matured ash borer in early May.
Jim Gersbach, a spokesperson for ODF, said these insects grow quicker in warmer weather, explaining their early appearance.
“Normally if somebody reports, ‘Oh, I saw an emerald ash borer adult in May,’ we’d say well, are you sure it was an emerald ash borer because they don’t usually come out till June,” he said. “This year we’re not saying that because it’s very possible that it might be.”
The ash borer was discovered in King City, a town in Washington County that has not had reported emerald ash borers yet.
Gersbach said, since Washington County is an existing emerald ash borer quarantine zone, ODF expected to see the pests spread to the city during this time.
“It’s not surprising that it’s in King City,” Gersbach said, “but it does reinforce that this is spreading and will show up in new communities.”
ODF’s efforts to slow the spread of ash borers include conducting safe removal and burns of ash trees.
“The state’s response to the arrival of EAB is to try and slow the spread at its initial stages,” Gersbach said. “We have a pilot grant to use air curtain incinerators to burn the wood so that it’s not lying around in piles where the larva can continue to mature and fly out of those cut down trees.”
Increasing awareness of the beetles is also a priority, he said.
“It’s usually people that accelerate the spread by moving it around inadvertently, accidentally,” Gersbach said. “(Through) education, we help people learn to not do that. Don’t move firewood, particularly ash trees, out of an area that’s already infested or very far.”
Oregonians can learn how to identify and report the pest at oregoneab.com.
