For the first time, the emerald ash borer, a highly destructive tree pest, has been found in Minnesota.

The state Department of Agriculture announced today that a tree care company discovered the infestation in St. Paul on Wednesday.

An unknown number of infected trees are located in St. Paul just northeast of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Highway 280. 

After receiving the tree company's report and conducting an initial inspection, state agriculture officials  submitted larvae from the infested trees to their federal counterparts. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the infestation this morning.

The tiny metallic-green beetle could devastate millions of ash trees in adjoining areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Minnesota has about 900 million ash trees, the second highest number in the nation after Maine. Since its accidental introduction into North America, the insect has killed millions of ash trees in 10 eastern states.

In the wake of the discovery in St. Paul, agricultural officials plan to issue a quarantine prohibiting the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock and ash timber in Ramsey and Hennepin counties.  This quarantine is expected to be followed by a federal quarantine within days.

Agriculture staff members plan to conduct a survey of trees near the infested trees in the surrounding area to gauge the extent of the infestation.

They have been scrambling for more than a month, ever since Wisconsin officials confirmed that the invasive pest has gotten into trees in Victory, Wis., about 20 miles south of La Crosse.

Because of its proximity to southeastern Minnesota, the agriculture department last month established a quarantine on firewood, ash trees and ash tree products in southeastern Minnesota's Houston County.

Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184

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