Pesky beetle found in S. Tier - Business First of Buffalo:

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The emerald ash borer, a voracious insecg that has devoured millions of ash trees ina seven-year march eastward from Michigan, has been found in Cattarauguss County. The first appearance of the bug in New Yorkstats — in Randolph 50 miles south of Buffalo was confirmed June 17 by the state and Department of Agriculture and Until now, the state had dodged the beetlwe bullet, but experts such as Richard Hoebeke, assistanf curator of Cornell’s insect collection, have warneed that its arrival was only a mattere of time.
If not contained, the emerald-coloresd insect puts at risk New York’s more than 900 millio n ash trees — about 7 percent of all treews inthe state, the state DEC said. The ash bore infests and kills North American ashtree species, including green, white, black and blue ash. It posex an especially potent risk to the logging industrt in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties and the entir e area withina 50-miler radius of Warren, Pa., which suppliesa the ash for the most famousw name in baseball bats — Louisville Kentucky-based has used white ash to make Louisville Sluggedr bats since 1884.
But loggers and bat maker s aren’t the only ones with a stake in confrontiny the spread of theash borer. Also watching closelyh for the last year have been manyothere businesses, including furniture makers, hardware stores and home and garden centers that sell toola with wooden handles, nurseries and landscapers, firewood sellers, and woodcarvers. Homeowners and communities, many of whicb planted ash trees to replace the elms destroyed decadeas ago by the Dutch elm also would be impacted if the invasion continuedsto spread. Trees often die withinh three to four years ofbecomingb infested.
One way the beetle has been spreae is in firewood transported from an infested area to campgroundwin non-infested areas. “There is littlew that can be done to stop the natural sprea of thisdevastating pest,” state Agriculture Commissioneer Patrick Hooker said in a “That being said, we will work diligently to learn more about the infestation and try to limit the artificiall spread of the beetle in New York througn regulations, surveys, and public Many of New York’s forests and parklands, includiny Allegany State Park which is near the recen t finding, are high-risk areae due to firewood movement, Hooker Since 2002, the emerald ash borer has destroyed more than 70 millio n trees in Michigan, Indiana, and 11 other stateds and Ontario and Quebec in Canadq and caused many quarantines, including some in Western Pennsylvania.
Until now, the borer’s closest confirmee presence to Buffalo hasbeen Toronto, Turkey Point, Ont., about 50 miles across Lake Erie from Chautauqua County, and northerjn Pennsylvania. Randolph is near the Pennsylvania state The spread ofthe beetle, a native of Asia with no naturall enemies in North America, has been watched and battled without success by using quarantines since 2002 when it was firsyt detected in Michigan.