Letter to The Honorable Lisa Jackson U.S. Department of Environmental Protection

Letter

Dear Administrator Jackson:

I write to call your attention to the emerging threat to New York of emerald ash borer and urge you to take immediate action to prevent the spread of this invasive insect. I respectfully request that you to approve two New York applications for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funds to combat emerald ash borer.

The emerald ash borer has been discovered in Cattaraugus County, New York and I am concerned that it is poised to make inroads across the state. Invasive species are a blight on our economy and our ecosystem, with the potential to wreak havoc on businesses in a number of industries, including furniture makers, lumber mills and sporting goods manufacturers. Insects like the emerald ash borer threaten the health of forests and ash trees every year, which in turn threatens the livelihood of communities that depend on the forests. New York has more than 900 million ash trees, representing about seven percent of all trees in the state. Since the beetle was first discovered in North America in Michigan in 2002, the emerald ash borer has devastated forests throughout the country and has the potential to decimate New York's ash tree population. Protecting our trees and forests from the emerald ash borer is critical to the continued economic and cultural vitality of the region and it is imperative that EPA work aggressively with New York to control the spread of this invasive insect.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the State University of NY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) have each applied for funds made available through the EPA that can be used to fight the spread of emerald ash borer. DEC will use these funds for its "Stop the Unsafe Disposal of Infested Firewood at Ports of Entry" program (EPAGLNPO-2010-IS-2-578-411) which is designed to reduce the risks of transporting firewood infested with forest pests by restricting the uncontrolled disposal of untreated firewood in the Great Lakes Basin communities located at or near ports of entry. SUNY ESF's "Emerald Ash Borer Rapid Response Management Strategy for New York State" request will fund a two-year grant to develop an emerald ash borer management strategy, which is critical to the State's ability to respond to future infestations. These funds should be approved without further delay to ensure that DEC and SUNY ESF are able to work quickly to suppress the spread of emerald ash borer.

Again, I urge you to approve these requests so that DEC and SUNY ESF may act expeditiously to prevent the spread of emerald ash borer in New York. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent request.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

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