Smoke Jumpers Employed in “Bug Hunt”

Asian longhorned beetles (ALBs) first arrived in N. America 9 years ago, inadvertently brought in from China in green-wood palettes. ALBs seriously threaten maples, birches, poplars, horse chestnut, willow, alders, birches and other tree species in Canada and the US. It is very difficult to spot trees infected with the beetles. To aid in the task, smoke jumpers, who normally fight western forest fires, have been brought in to work high in the treetops, where signs of infestation are most evident.

If not stopped ALBs could wipe out entire species of trees in N. America. The USDA has spent $213 million in efforts to exterminate the pest. The agency is taking a hard-line approach in dealing with the invader. Trees where the pest is found are ground to sawdust and burned and thousands of trees that are potential victims are being treated with insecticides injected into the soil.

Link: Smoke jumpers join the battle against crawling menace to trees from the Seattle Times

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:57 PM on July 5, 2005

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