Ash Borer quarantine expanded in U.P. UNDATED (wnmu) - Authorities have added two Upper Peninsula counties to a quarantine area meant to contain the Emerald Ash Borer, which has destroyed millions of trees in Michigan and neighboring states. Houghton and Keweenaw counties joined the quarantine zone Thursday. An infestation of the tree-killing beetle was discovered last month near Laurium in Houghton County. The designation prohibits taking ash material or hardwood firewood from the affected counties to places outside those counties, and regulates movement of the materials within the counties themselves.

Ken Rauscher of the Michigan Department of Agriculture says staffers have surveyed the area to determine the extent of the infestation. The quarantine now covers the Lower Peninsula and all or part of four Upper Peninsula Counties.
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