Emerald Ash Borer Community Preparedness
Emerald ash borer (EAB) is a devastating wood-boring tree pest that has killed millions of trees in the eastern and central U.S. While EAB is all but impossible to eradicate once it arrives in an area, well-planned response efforts can slow its spread and reduce the impact on community forests. A response plan is important because it provides a community with the opportunity to plan ahead to spread the costs and losses associated with the impacts of EAB.
The manual includes numerous resources from across the country compiled to help a community prepare for the arrival of EAB, including topics such as general emerald ash borer information, managing emerald ash borer, tree inventories and replacement, quarantine and regulation, firewood information, insecticide options, wood utilization, and examples of available educational outreach materials. The manual was compiled by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) and the University of Minnesota (U of MN) with assistance from other organizations.
The template provides an outline for a community EAB plan. The template was modeled after plans developed by communities affected by EAB. It includes a variety of elements that must be considered when developing a plan. The template was designed to help communities think critically about the planning aspects and to choose options that best fit their specific needs, resources, structure and authorities.
In June 2010, the MDA, MN DNR, U of MN, and City of St. Paul Forestry presented a series of workshops across Minnesota. The goal was to provide communities with the information and resources they will need to prepare for EAB. The information discussed in the presentations included guidelines for managing EAB, tools to help calculate the costs of EAB in your community, guidelines and tools for tree inventories and tree replacement, quarantine information, wood utilization ideas and management, and what outreach materials are available for use.
This page provides answers to common questions about EAB.
Communities who have already experienced an EAB infestation or have begun planning for one can be a great source of information and ideas. This page contains highlights of plans or ideas from different communities across Minnesota.
This page provides resources for communities and community leaders to provide EAB information to citizens.
Support provided from the Outdoor Heritage Fund, a part of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, as appropriated in Minnesota Laws 2009, Chapter 172.