News

The USDA APHIS is amending the Pine Shoot Beetle (PSB) regulations by adding the entire State of Ohio and counties in Maine and Indiana to the list of quarantined areas.  Action is being taken following the detection of the beetle in these areas and is necessary to prevent its spread into noninfested areas of the United States. This interim rule is effective September 21, 2009.

In accordance with these criteria, we are adding the following counties to the area quarantined for PSB:

• Greene County, Indiana;
• Androscoggin, Cumberland, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo, and York Counties, Maine
• and the entire State of Ohio (based on the decision by the Ohio Department of Agriculture not to continue enforcement of an intrastate quarantine).

The Maine and Indiana departments of agriculture have elected to continue their intrastate quarantines; therefore, quarantined areas in those States are listed at the county level based on reports of the presence of PSB in individual counties.

PSB is a destructive forest pest that attacks both managed and natural stands of pine and especially affects weak and dying trees. The beetle has been found in a variety of pine species (Pinus spp.) in the Unites States. Scotch pine (P. sylvestris) is the pest's preferred host. PSB has been reported to also occasionally attack other conifers such as fir (Abies spp.) and spruce (Picea spp.) at low levels. During "shoot feeding", young beetles tunnel into the center of pine shoots (usually those from the current year's growth), causing stunted and distorted growth in host trees. Large infestations of PSB typically kill most of the lateral shoots near the tops of trees. In addition, PSB is a vector of several diseases of pine trees and spreads both through natural means (insect flight and wind dispersal) and artificial means (movement of host material from infested areas to noninfested areas). State and Federal inspectors conduct surveys each year to monitor PSB's natural movement as well as its artificial movement via regulated pine articles such as Christmas trees, nursery stock, logs and lumber with bark, stumps, bark nuggets, and raw material for wreaths and garlands.

The pine shoot beetle is reported to be the second most destructive shoot-feeding species in Europe. It is also established in Asia. The only previous U.S. infestation of the beetle occurred in New Jersey in 1913. The beetle was probably introduced into the United States in 1992 by foreign ships carrying beetle-infested wood as dunnage. (Dunnage is packing material used to protect a ship’s cargo from damage during transport.) Since the 1992 introduction, the PSB has been detected in 11 northeastern states.

For additional information regarding this USDA ruling, view the Federal Register notification here.