Kansas Counties Quarantined for Emerald Ash Borer: Atchison, Doniphan, Douglas, Jefferson, Johnson,
Leavenworth, Shawnee and Wyandotte
2019 Finds: Jackson and Miami. Quarantine is planned.
The emerald ash borer is a pest of ash trees native to Asia. It was first discovered in North America in 2002 in the Detroit, Michigan, area. Since then, it has killed millions of ash trees and caused thousands more to be removed to slow its spread.
Since its initial discovery, the core area affected by the beetle has expanded. It has been detected in Ohio (2003), Indiana (2004), Illinois, Maryland (2006), Pennsylvania, West Virginia (2007), Virginia, Wisconsin, Missouri (2008), Minnesota, Kentucky, New York (2009), Iowa, Tennessee (2010), Connecticut, Kansas, Massachusetts (2012), Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado, (2013), New Jersey, Arkansas (2014), Louisiana (2015), Texas, Nebraska, Delaware, Oklahoma, Alabama (2016), South Carolina (2017), Maine, South Dakota, Vermont (2018).
Wyandotte County EAB Find Background - On July 20, 2012, emerald ash borer was found in Parkville, Missouri, four miles from the Wyandotte County line. Then on August 29, 2012, the first-ever presence of emerald ash borer in Kansas was confirmed in Wyandotte County at Wyandotte County Lake. The discovery was made by Kansas Department of Agriculture and USDA staff during a survey being conducted as a result of the July 2012 confirmation of emerald ash borer in Platte County, Missouri. The staff identified a tree during the visual survey that showed symptoms of the emerald ash borer. They removed a portion of the tree and sent it to a USDA lab in Michigan for further analysis. Regulatory officials at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Plant Protection Quarantine (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) division removed larva from the sample and confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer.
The initial emergency quarantine was effective August 29, 2012, for Wyandotte County and became permanent November 9, 2012, and will be in effect until it is rescinded or modified by the order of the Kansas Secretary of Agriculture.
Johnson County EAB Find Background - On July 5, 2013, an adult specimen was removed from an emerald ash borer survey trap located near the Johnson County landfill, during routine monitoring by USDA-APHIS-PPQ. Immediately after confirmation by USDA, Kansas enacted an emergency intrastate quarantine for Johnson County, effective July 15, which became permanent September 24, 2013, and will be in effect until it is rescinded or modified by the order of the Kansas Secretary of Agriculture.
Leavenworth County EAB Find Background - On July 16, 2014, an adult emerald ash borer was caught on a girdled tree trap placed on K-5 southeast of Lansing by the Kansas Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Transportation and the Kansas Forest Service. A second emerald ash borer was also caught on a second girdled trap tree at Kenneth W. Bernard Community Park by KDA in cooperation with the City of Lansing and the KFS. Regulatory officials with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer on July 17, 2014.
Douglas County EAB Find Background - On September 30, 2015, six emerald ash borer larva were found when a girdled trap tree was peeled at the old elementary school at Elm Street and 14th St. in Eudora by the Kansas Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the city of Eudora. Regulatory officials with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer on October 8, 2015.
Jefferson County EAB Find Background - On October 21, 2015, seven emerald ash borer larva were found when a girdled trap tree was peeled at Perry Lake below the dam by the Kansas Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Corp of Engineers and the Kansas Forest Service. Regulatory officials with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer on October 27, 2015.
Atchison County EAB Find Background - USDA is contracting out trapping. On September 19, 2016 a suspect EAB specimen was removed from a trap in the Cummings township area in Atchison County. USDA positively identified EAB on September 23.
Doniphan County EAB Find Background - On March 31, 2017, EAB larvae were removed from an ash tree in a native stand of timber in rural Doniphan County near the town of Bendena, KS by the Kansas Forest Service and the Kansas Department of Agricultural staff. Regulatory officials with USDA-APHIS-PPQ confirmed the presence of EAB on April 4, 2017.
Shawnee County EAB Find Background - On June 6, 2017, several EAB galleries were observed and a live EAB adult was removed while peeling bark from a tree, after KDA was notified by an arborist. The suspect tree was identified while the arborist was trimming branches for a home owner in a residential area near Lake Shawnee. KDA sent the specimen to a laboratory with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) which confirmed KDA’s findings on June 7, 2017.
Miami County EAB Find Background - On October 15, 2019, several EAB galleries were observed and EAB larvae were removed from an ash tree while peeling bark from a girdled trap tree. The tree was in a park in Spring Hill. KDA sent the specimen to a laboratory with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) which confirmed KDA’s findings on October 16, 2019.
Jackson County EAB Find Background - On November 19, 2019, several EAB galleries were observed and EAB larvae were removed from an ash tree while peeling bark from a girdled trap tree. KDA sent the specimen to a laboratory with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) which confirmed KDA’s findings on November 22, 2019.
The current Kansas emergency intrastate quarantine includes Atchison, Doniphan, Douglas, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties to slow the spread of EAB in Kansas.
The quarantine applies to any corporation, company, society, association, partnership, governmental agency, and any individual or combination of individuals. It prohibits movement of regulated items from the quarantined area, except under specific conditions established in the
Permanent Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine
- for Atchison, Doniphan, Douglas, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties
Quarantine planned for Jackson and Miami counties soon.
Regulated items under quarantine include the following:
- The emerald ash borer, (Agrilus planipennis [Coleoptera: Buprestidae]), in any living stage of development;
- Firewood of all hardwood (non-coniferous) species;
- Nursery stock of the genus Fraxinus (Ash);
- Green lumber of the genus Fraxinus (Ash);
- Other material living, dead, cut, or fallen, including logs, stumps, roots, branches, and composted and uncomposted chips of the genus Fraxinus (Ash);
- Any other article, product, or means of conveyance that an inspector determines presents a risk of spreading emerald ash borer and notifies the person in possession of the article, product, or means of conveyance that it is subject to the restrictions of the regulations.
If you suspect emerald ash borer on your property and are not in one of the quarantined counties, please call 785-564-6698 or e-mail your name, address, phone number and pictures of the suspect tree to KDA.PPWC@ks.gov. For answers to common questions, check out our Kansas Emerald Ash Borer Frequently Asked Questions and Do I Have Emerald Ash Borer?
All ash trees native to Kansas are susceptible to infestation by the emerald ash borer. Trees become infested when adult beetles lay eggs on the bark. The eggs hatch into larvae that bore into the tree. They tunnel between the bark and wood and disrupt water and nutrient movement, eventually killing the tree. Emerald ash borer appears to prefer trees under stress, but is capable of killing perfectly healthy trees.
Emerald ash borer is responsible for killing or damaging 20 million ash trees in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, Canada. Financially, the United States risks an economic loss of $20 billion to $60 billion because of this pest. A complete devastation of ash trees could seriously affect our ecosystem.
Without government action and cooperation from the public, firewood dealers, arborists and the nursery industry, emerald ash borer will be introduced in Kansas. Preventing its introduction is far more cost-effective than trying to contain it as an established pest.