MADISON, Wis. - A federal agency has quarantined pine products exported from Wisconsin in the hopes of controlling the spread of a destructive beetle.
Under terms of the quarantine, inspectors must certify pine logs, Christmas trees, mulch or pine nursery as free of the pine shoot beetle before the products can go to a non-quarantined state or county, said Brian Kuhn, the state's plant industry bureau director.
The pine shoot beetle, about the size of a match head, stunts the trees' growth when it attacks the pine shoots. The beetle is found in 15 states including Wisconsin.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture imposed the quarantine, which supersedes ones in place in 18 Wisconsin counties.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection will enforce the measure. Neighboring states have also pine quarantines in most if not all counties.
ON THE NET
Wisconsin Agriculture Department: http://datcp.state.wi.us/index.html