Text: Agriculture Dept. Expands Asian Longhorned Beetle Quarantine
(Recent surveys show New York City-area infestation spreading)The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in a press release September 12 that due to recent surveys showing spreading Asian longhorned beetle infestations, new areas of New York City and nearby Nassau and Suffolk counties will be placed under quarantine.
The USDA release explained that enlarging the New York quarantined areas is necessary to prevent the spread of the pest to other areas of the United States. Besides destroying aesthetically valuable urban trees, the Asian longhorned beetle can cause economic losses to nursery, maple syrup, and forest product industries. Following is the text of the press release:
(begin text)
USDA EXPANDS ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE QUARANTINED AREA
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 , 2000 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has adjusted quarantine boundaries in New York to include new areas in New York City and in Nassau and Suffolk counties, due to Asian longhorned beetle infestation.
"Recent surveys have revealed that infestations of ALB have occurred outside of the quarantined areas in New York," said Richard L. Dunkle, deputy administrator for plant protection and quarantine with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. APHIS is a part of USDA's marketing and regulatory programs mission area. "This action is necessary to prevent the artificial spread of this destructive pest to noninfested areas of the United States." For a description of the entire New York quarantined area, please visit the APHIS website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov, select "regulations," and look for Docket No. 00-077-1.
The ALB bores into healthy hardwood trees, feeds on living tree tissue during the fall and winter, and emerges through a hole about the size of a dime during the spring. This can cause economic losses to nursery, maple syrup, and forest product industries. In addition, urban and forest ALB infestations will result in aesthetic deterioration due to permanent tree damage and a reduction in the public enjoyment of recreational spaces.
This interim rule appears in the Sept. 12 Federal Register and became effective Sept. 6. APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related information, including the names of organizations and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Return to The United States and China.Return to IIP Home Page.