The Iowa Emerald Ash Borer Team has confirmed today that the emerald ash borer has been found in Iowa along the Mississippi River two miles south of the Minnesota border in Allamakee County. The land is owned and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
It is the first confirmation of the destructive pest in Iowa. Four larvae were found in one ash tree by members of Iowa’s EAB team during a survey of the area following the recent announcement that the beetle had been found just across the Minnesota border. An infestation in nearby Victory, Wisconsin was discovered in 2009.
A quarantine prohibiting the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber, or any other article that could further spread EAB is pending from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. A federal quarantine would follow the state quarantine.
State officials plan to hold a news conference at 2:30 today to talk about the issue.