Durbin Tours Latest Emerald Ash Borer Site

DURBIN TOURS LATEST EMERALD ASH BORER SITE

Friday, July 14, 2006

[WILMETTE, IL] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with village and forestry officials in Wilmette today before touring the neighborhood where the second infestation of the Emerald Ash Borer was confirmed on Thursday by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Earlier this month, Durbin met with federal, state, county and local officials in St. Charles to discuss their efforts to track and contain the Emerald Ash Borer in Kane County. Durbin, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the officials he recently secured committee approval of $1.5 million to combat and prevent the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer in Illinois. The funding, which is included in the Agriculture Appropriations bill, now needs to be approved by the full Senate.

"The discovery of the Emerald Ash Borer in Wilmette is troubling news. Illinois has more than 131 million ash trees, with about 20 percent of the trees in the Chicago area," said Durbin. "The $1.5 million approved by the Senate committee will help Illinois officials meet this challenge and avert a potentially devastating situation. In the past few years, this insect has killed tens of millions of trees throughout the Midwest, and we need to get ahead of this infestation."

In late June, Senator Durbin called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a plan to curb the spread of this pest and report on their progress. In a letter Durbin sent to the head of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, he wrote: "As you know, time is of the essence. I would appreciate receiving a report within 15 days describing the specific plans APHIS will implement to combat EAB in Northern Illinois and the timelines that will guide the agency's response. Specifically, I would like to know what resources APHIS will commit to this discovery of emerald ash borer."

EAB is a bright green beetle that kills trees by burrowing into their bark and destroying the trees' ability to bring water from the roots to upper branches. Infected trees usually begin to die within two to three years. The Emerald Ash Borer was first sighted in 2002 in Michigan. Forestry experts estimate that the Emerald Ash Borer has been responsible for the devastation of than 12 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.

http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=258689&&