Ash Borer Traps in U.P.

You may have noticed random purple boxes hanging from trees recently.

They’re Emerald Ash Borer traps used to see out if the pest is invading the Upper Peninsula. Ash Borer’s are exotic pests that kill Ash trees and if detected are extremely harmful for the ash tree population. The pests have spread throughout the U.S., including the U.P. Already 5 counties detected the Ash Borer’s presence previously. This is the second year the state’s used the purple traps, and this year they’ve been spread out all throughout the Upper Peninsula except the counties already containing the pests. Although the pests spread locally in one area, it’s the humans traveling with firewood or ash wood products from the nursery stock that have spread this pest in such large distances. The purple traps are being taken down these next few weeks to determine if the ash borer’s have spread to other parts of the area.