Last year, EAB was detected in Broomfield, Westminster and unincorporated Larimer County, near Berthoud. These detections were outside of a quarantine area encompassing primarily Boulder County, established to slow the spread of EAB via the movement of ash nursery stock, firewood and other wood that may contain the pest. With EAB discovered outside of Boulder County, the Colorado Department of Agriculture found it necessary to repeal all quarantine laws, effective Dec. 30, 2019.

“The quarantine was successful and gave communities time to prepare for EAB,” said Laura Pottorff, plant health and certification section chief with the CDA. “Adult emerald ash borers can fly up to a half-mile once they emerge, so it could not stop their natural spread or eradicate them.”

Pottorff said that lifting the quarantine provides municipalities and companies more options for disposing of ash wood and fosters its reuse and recycling. The CSFS is planning to host an ash wood utilization workshop later this year in Fort Collins as part of its Your Ash is on the Line project.

For more information about ash tree identification, the symptoms of EAB, treatment options and wood utilization workshops, go to csfs.colostate.edu/eab.