Say goodbye to your ash trees

The little green devil has arrived...

State officials said Tuesday that the dreaded emerald ash borer had been found recently in six trees in The Windings of Ferson Creek, a heavily wooded St. Charles subdivision.

"For the past two years, we have been preparing for this day ... hoping it wouldn't come," said Chuck Hartke, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, about the pest's appearance. "But it is here today. We must act quickly to contain and eradicate the emerald ash borer."

Officials said prompt action is necessary because the beetle's presence in Illinois threatens the state's more than 110 million ash trees. (source: Elgin Courier News 06/14/06)

This is likely to be as devastating as Dutch elm disease.

[The emerald ash borer] was accidentally imported to North America from China in the 1990s and has since destroyed more than six million ash trees in southeastern Michigan. (source: Wikipedia)