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Firewood warning – Parks ask visitors to help fend off ash pest

By James Day

State officials have ratcheted up their campaign against the emerald ash borer, which poses a grave threat to Oregon’s ash trees.

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is asking visitors to help slow the spread of the destructive pest by choosing certified heat-treated firewood or firewood harvested within ten miles of their destination to avoid bringing the invasive insect into state parks.

OPRD also is asking visitors to leave any ash, olive and white fringe tree firewood and materials at home.

The emerald ash borer is considered the most destructive forest pest in North America, killing hundreds of millions of ash trees across the country. It has been detected in four Oregon counties: Washington, Yamhill, Marion and Clackamas, prompting a permanent quarantine in those counties.

“So far, emerald ash borer has not been detected in Oregon State Parks, and we would like to keep it that way for as long as possible,” said Noel Bacheller, OPRD’s natural resource coordinator and ecologist in a press release.

The insect can only travel about ten miles on its own during its brief adult life, but humans can spread it hundreds of miles through infested firewood and other tree materials. Once an ash tree is infested, it has little chance of survival even if it is otherwise healthy. The insect’s larvae consume the inner bark, causing ash trees to decline and eventually die.

Ash trees grow in riparian areas along rivers, streams and other low-elevation bodies of water in Western Oregon. The loss of ash trees could have a significant impact on riparian ecology, including loss of shade, increased water temperatures and decline in fish health.

Key battlegrounds for state parks officials in terms of combatting the pest generally lie in its riverside and riparian parks.

“As far as vulnerable parks, I know that Champoeg, Willamette Mission and the Willamette River Greenway have quite a few ash trees,” said Stefanie Knowlton, an OPRD spokesperson. “We have monitoring traps at Willamette Mission, Champoeg, Luckiamute, Banks-Vernonia Trailhead in Banks, Scappoose Bay Greenway and Mirror Lake at Rooster Rock. We also have ash trees at Silver Falls.”

Matt Palmquist, an interpretive park ranger at Silver Falls, told Our Town “In our area, they are found much more commonly in valley bottoms – such as along Silver Creek in Silverton. That being said, we do have three small populations of ash at Silver Falls. I estimate the total number to be less than 200 trees (our riparian zones are dominated by red alder and bigleaf maple).”

Rangers at Detroit Lake State Recreation Area told Our Town that the park does not have any ash trees but they have posted signs on the pest that emphasize the importance of purchasing firewood from the park’s supply and not bringing in outside firewood.

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