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Invasive pests and diseases are the biggest threats facing Indiana's urban and rural forests today.

Use this website to learn about these pests and what you can do to protect Indiana's trees.
How do they get here?
Many invasive forest pests reach our shores hidden in shipments from other countries. Many shipments of products we use every day—clothing, building materials, fresh and processed foods—are packaged in wooden crates or pallets to protect them in transit. These wooden packaging materials are often made of poor-quality wood that is more likely to harbor pests. In 2005, the U.S. adopted a rule requiring sanitizing treatments for all imported wood packaging materials to reduce the likelihood of new pest introductions. However, several high-impact forest pests, such as emerald ash borer, likely arrived and established in the U.S. before these regulations were in place.

Another common pathway by which invasive forest pests enter the U.S. is through live plant imports. Trees imported for landscaping purposes sometimes arrive contaminated with microbes or insects from their countries of origin. Invasive tree pathogens (diseases) are especially likely to enter through this pathway, because they are very difficult to detect on imported plants.
Why are they such a problem?
Our native tree species have never seen these pests before and therefore have no defenses against them. When invasive pests arrive on our shores, they have left behind the natural factors that keep their populations in check, and their populations can grow out of control.

Unfortunately, several of our native U.S. forest pest species have arrived in other countries through global trade, too. Though these pests are relatively benign here at home, they are wreaking havoc in foreign forests.
News
Oct 9, 2014
- High-voltage decoy may help with early detection of EAB.​ Link to Story​

October 14, 2014: Yellow Springs, OH- EAB found on white fringe tree. 

May 12, 2014: Boston, MA- USDA declare a Boston, Massachusetts area free of ALB.​ Link to Story​


EAB University Webinars​
​Fall Webinars

Practical Woodlot Management Before, During and After EAB

Thursday, November 6, 2014 at 11am ET
Lenny Farley, Purdue University Extension Forestry Specialist

 

Wood Utilization Options for Urban Trees Infested by Invasive Species

Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 11am ET
Brian Brashaw, Director of the Wood Materials and Engineering Program at the Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth; and Robert Ross, Project Leader at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI

 

The History of EAB in New York State and Community Responses

Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 11am ET
Mark Whitmore, PhD, Cornell University Forest Entomologist


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Report A Pest
1-866-NO-EXOTIC
(1-866-663-9684)
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