USDA Announces 2023 Plans for Eradicating Asian Longhorned Beetle in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina

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Contacts:
Rhonda Santos
Rhonda.J.Santos@usda.gov
Suzanne.M.Bond
Suzanne.M.Bond@USDA.gov

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing its 2023 plans for combatting the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) infestations in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina. Every year, APHIS and its partners evaluate and determine the most effective options for eliminating the pest from the United States.

“We need people who live in and around ALB infestations to help look for and report the damage the beetle causes to trees,” said Josie Ryan, APHIS’ National Operations Manager for the Asian Longhorned Beetle Eradication Program. “By looking at your trees and reporting any suspicious tree damage, you can help us find the beetle sooner and eliminate it quicker.”

This year, the ALB program will focus on inspecting trees in quarantined areas in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina, and removing infested trees at no cost to property owners. The program will not apply insecticide treatments this year. Program officials will monitor for the beetle’s presence and the movement of wood inside and around each infested area, conduct training sessions for compliance agreement holders, respond to calls for assistance, and perform outreach. APHIS also will continue to develop new methods to eradicate the beetle.

People living and working in quarantine zones may not move regulated items, such as firewood (from all hardwood species), nursery stock, woody debris (dead or living), and green lumber from all ALB host trees, out of the area without a compliance agreement, permit, or certificate. All ALB host trees are regulated and include maple, elm, willow, birch, poplar, buckeye / horsechestnut, ash, sycamore, mimosa, goldenrain tree, katsura, and mountain ash.

State and federal officials monitor the movement of wood within and around regulated areas to enforce the quarantine and may issue fines to individuals and businesses that do not comply with the regulations. A business or person wanting to move regulated articles out of the quarantine zone may: (1) enter into a compliance agreement with the program and obtain the needed permit or certificate for those articles, or (2) request that program staff inspect the articles and directly issue the needed permit or certificate. To register for free compliance training, please call your local office:

  • In Massachusetts, call 508-852-8110.
  • In New York, call 631-288-1751.
  • In Ohio, call 513-381-7180.
  • In South Carolina, call 843-973-8329.

People who live in an ALB-quarantined area can help by:

  1. Allowing eradication program officials access to your property to inspect trees and remove any infested trees that are found.
  2. Hiring tree or landscape companies that have compliance agreements with the eradication program to ensure that woody material is disposed of properly.
  3. Contacting your local eradication program office or municipality for information on yard waste disposal procedures for moving woody materials such as branches, stumps, and logs from your property.
  4. Contacting your local eradication program office before moving any tree materials, live trees, or nursery stock, which could be infested with ALB.
  5. Buying or responsibly gathering firewood where you will burn it or use certified heat-treated firewood because moving firewood can spread the beetle.

The ALB program has eradicated ALB infestations in Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; New Jersey; Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Islip in New York; and a portion of East Fork State Park, and Stonelick and Monroe townships in Ohio.

Currently, 288.4 square miles are under federal quarantine for ALB in the United States: 110 square miles in Worcester County, Massachusetts; 53 square miles in central Long Island, New York; 49 square miles in Clermont County, Ohio; and 76.4 square miles in Charleston and Dorchester counties, South Carolina. For more information about the beetle and program activities, please call the ALB toll-free hotline at 1-866-702-9938 or visit www.aphis.usda.gov/pests-diseases/alb-.

ALB eradication programs are cooperative programs. APHIS works with USDA’s Forest Service and Agricultural Research Service, and state partners. State partners include Massachusetts’ Department of Conservation and Recreation and Department of Agricultural Resources; New York State’s Department of Agriculture and Markets; Clemson University’s Department of Plant Industry and  the College of Charleston; and Ohio’s Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources, Clermont County, and Ohio State University.

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APHIS protects the health of U.S. agriculture and natural resources against invasive pests and diseases, regulates genetically engineered crops, administers the Animal Welfare Act, and helps people and wildlife coexist. We also certify the health of U.S. agricultural exports and resolve phytosanitary and sanitary issues to open, expand, and maintain markets for U.S plant and animal products.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.