(KNSI) – Following the 2019 discovery of emerald ash borer or EAB in a tree in Sauk Centre, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture placed Stearns County under an emergency quarantine. Now, the Stearns County Parks Department is asking for volunteers to walk in parks and along trails looking for trees with woodpecker feeding damage.
While it may not be outwardly apparent that the tree has an EAB infestation, woodpecker feeding damage is one sign.
The department is also asking people to look for other signs, including:
The number of epicormic shoots, or a sprout coming from underneath the bark of a tree trunk
Bark splits
Upper canopy damage
Lower canopy damage
Trunk damage
Monitoring is needed through April 23rd. A report should be submitted for each cluster or individual ash species tree.
To see a list of the parks needed for the survey, or to submit an observation, click here.
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