[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 49 (Monday, March 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12800-12801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6226]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. 98-088-2]
Declaration of Emergency Because of the Asian Longhorned Beetle
A serious outbreak of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora
glabripennis, is occurring in Illinois and New York.
The Asian longhorned beetle, an insect native to China, Japan,
Korea, and the Isle of Hainan, is a destructive pest of hardwood trees.
It is known to attack healthy maple, horse chestnut, birch, Rose of
Sharon, poplar, willow, elm, locust, mulberry, chinaberry, apple,
cherry, pear, and citrus trees. It may also attack other species of
hardwood trees. In addition, nursery stock, logs, green lumber,
firewood, stumps, roots, branches, and debris of a half an inch or more
in diameter are subject to infestation. The Asian longhorned beetle
bores into the heartwood of host trees, eventually killing the host
trees. Immature beetles bore into tree trunks and branches, causing
heavy sap flow from wounds and sawdust accumulation at tree bases. They
feed on, and over-winter in, the interior of the trees. Adult beetles
emerge in the spring and summer months from round holes approximately
\3/8\-inch diameter (about the size of a dime) that they bore through
the trunks of trees. After emerging, adult beetles feed for 2 to 3 days
and then mate. Adult females then lay eggs in oviposition sites that
they make on the branches of trees. A new generation of the Asian
longhorned beetle is produced each year. If this pest moves into the
hardwood forests of the United States, the nursery and forest products
industry could experience severe economic losses.
Since August 1996, infestations of the Asian longhorned beetle have
been found in a portion of Brooklyn and Queens, NY, an area near
Amityville, NY, and in three areas in and around Chicago. The damage
and losses that would occur if the Asian longhorned beetle should
become established and spread in the United States would be
substantial. For example, many species of hardwood trees would be
destroyed, severely harming industries that depend on the wood and
other products of these trees (e.g., maple syrup, maple sugar, fruit).
Hardwood lumber industries would face critical supply shortages and
would be forced to try to meet their needs with imported hardwoods.
Mature ornamental trees would be attacked, and domestic supplies of
trees for nursery and landscaping companies would be reduced or
eliminated. Widespread destruction of hardwood trees in public and
private forest land would occur, causing enormous direct losses in
tourism and related industries and enormous losses that cannot be
easily measured to the aesthetics of our woodlands.
In cooperation with the States of Illinois and New York, the Animal
and
[[Page 12801]]
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has initiated a program to
eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle in Illinois and New York. The
States of Illinois and New York are assisting APHIS in funding the
program. However, APHIS resources are insufficient to meet the
estimated $5.5 million needed for the Federal share. In addition, some
of these resources may be needed to fund other, small scale emergencies
before the end of the year.
Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of
September 25, 1981, 95 Stat. (7 U.S.C. 147b), I declare that there is
an emergency which threatens the forest and maple syrup industries of
this country and hereby authorize the transfer and use of such funds as
may be necessary from appropriations or other funds available to the
agencies or corporations of the United States Department of Agriculture
for the conduct of a program to detect the Asian longhorned beetle,
identify infested areas, control and prevent the spread of the Asian
longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the United States, and
eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle wherever it may be found in the
United States.
Effective Date: This declaration of emergency shall become
effective March 9, 1999.
Dan Glickman,
Secretary of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 99-6226 Filed 3-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
