tree checks

Did you know that USDA has declared August as Tree Check Month? That’s because August is the peak time of year to spot the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB)—an invasive wood-boring beetle that attacks 12 types of hardwood trees in North America, such as maples, elms, horse chestnuts, birches and willows...

To some people the smell of summer is a fresh cut grass or morning dew, but to me summer is the scent of healthy trees in full bloom. It reminds me that summer isn’t over yet and there is still time to be outdoors. And with August as Tree Check Month for the invasive Asian longhorned beetle (ALB)...

One of the things I consider a highlight of my career and that I will always remember is our successful response to the July 2010 detection of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) in Boston, Massachusetts. As I attended the May 12 ceremony commemorating the eradication of the ALB infestation in Boston...

In addition to the existing science-based eradication protocols for fighting an Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) infestation, such as surveying trees and removing infested ones, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) relies on on-going research to not only improve current...

Today is National Maple Syrup Day! So, what does maple syrup have in common with an invasive insect? Well, if the insect is the Asian longhorned beetle, then they both can come from maple trees. Obviously, we want the maple syrup and not the invasive beetle. But who cares? And why should anyone care...

From the moment an Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) infests a tree, there is no cure. No amount of treatments will drive this deadly pest from the comfort of America’s heartwood, leaving thousands of trees dead and dying in the northeastern U.S. However, as bleak as this may sound, there is a way to...

This past March, almost 11 years after being found in New Jersey, federal and state agriculture officials are finally able to say that the state’s long-running battle against the non-native Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is over. New Jersey is the second state to declare itself free from the invasive...