Landowners invited to July 8 meeting on Asian Longhorned Beetle

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ALBBATAVIA, Ohio (June 23, 2014) — A public meeting will be held 7-8 p.m. July 8 at the Grant Career Center, 718 W. Plane St., Bethel, for landowners affected by the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). Residents in the ALB quarantined area – parts of Tate, Monroe and Stonelick townships – are invited to attend.
The meeting will focus on a special initiative to provide financial and technical assistance to improve wood lots and forests affected by the beetle. The larvae of the beetle bore deep into deciduous hardwood trees, particularly maple, eventually killing them.
The Asian longhorned beetle was first discovered in the United States in 1996. Since then, it has been found in five states, including Ohio, and was first discovered in Clermont County in 2012. More than 1 million trees in Clermont County have been surveyed since that time, and almost 40,000 have been removed, while another 13,000 have been treated. The quarantine area comprises 61 square miles in Clermont (see attached map).
Once a wood lot is cleared of the infested trees, invasive species often explode, according to Lori Lenhart, district conservationist for Clermont County at the Natural Resource Conservation Service. The July 8 meeting will offer information on how to better control invasive species, such as honeysuckle, grapevine and ailanthus; and how to manage a wood lot after tree removal.
The Conservation Service is taking applications for assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program through July 18, 2014. Priority will be given to applicants who have had or are scheduled for tree removals due to ALB eradication efforts. Staff will be available after the meeting to accept applications.
For more information contact Lenhart, 513-732-2181, ext. 102, lori.lenhart@oh.usda.gov; or Tim Wilson, ODNR Division of Forestry, 937-378-4920, Tim.Wilson@dnr.state.oh.us.

For more information on the beetle, go to these sites: http://asianlonghornedbeetle.com, http://www.agri.ohio.gov/TopNews/asianbeetle, http://bugs.clermontcountyohio.gov/ALB.aspx.
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Contact: Natural Resources Conservation Service
Lori Lenhart, 513-732-2180 ext 102; lori.lenhard@oh.usda.gov