Emerald ash borer spreads

Published 3:54 pm Saturday, August 27, 2011

WINONA — The Minnesota Department of Agriculture confirms the emerald ash borer has now been found in Winona County.

The department also detected the insect at another location in Houston County, in southeastern Minnesota.

The Winona County infestation is in the Great River Bluffs State Park near Dakota. The Houston County detection is in Veterans Park in La Crescent.

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The two new sites are eight miles apart. It’s the second detection in Houston County.

It’s latest in a series of emerald ash borer infestations discovered in Minnesota since 2009.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has imposed on quarantine on Winona County, barring people from moving out of the county any items potentially infested with the emerald ash borer. That includes firewood, live ash trees and untreated ash lumber.