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PPQ 2022 Annual Report

Optimizing Pest Management: Tree and Wood Pests

Table of Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 1

Asian Longhorned Beetle.......................................................................................................................................... 2

Emerald Ash Borer.................................................................................................................................................... 5

Spongy Moths........................................................................................................................................................... 6

Shot Hole Borers....................................................................................................................................................... 7

 

Introduction 

The Tree and Wood Pests (TWP) program protects forests, private working lands, and natural resources 

from the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), emerald ash borer (EAB), spongy moths, and most recently 

shot hole borers (SHB). Numerous native hardwood tree species that are common throughout the United 

States are vulnerable to these pests. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plant Protection and 

Quarantine (PPQ) program cooperates with Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies, organizations, and 

institutions to conduct survey, regulatory, control, and outreach activities in 48 States to manage and, in 

some cases, eradicate these pests.

Conserving forests enhances the economic vitality of rural communities by supporting forest-related 

industries, recreation and tourism, and the overall livability of communities. The value of forest products 

that PPQ protects is over $200 billion (U.S. Forest Service, USFS ). In addition, trees in residential areas 
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lower cooling bills, filter pollutants from the air, decrease runoff, and improve residents’ quality of life 

(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 

Asian Longhorned Beetle 

The ALB threatens forest resources nationwide, as roughly 30 percent of U.S. trees are potential ALB 

hosts. The program’s ALB eradication activities prevent multi-billion-dollar losses to the maple syrup, 

timber, tree nursery, trade, and tourism industries. 

ALB was first detected in Brooklyn, New York, in August 1996, and was later found in other areas of 

New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, and in FY 2020, Charleston, South Carolina. The 

program has successfully eradicated ALB from Chicago, Illinois; Islip, Staten Island; Brooklyn, Queens, 

and Manhattan, New York; Jersey City, Middlesex County, and Union County, New Jersey; and 

Batavia, Stonelick, and Monroe Townships, Ohio. The program continues to match State and Federal 

quarantine boundaries and conduct activities in regulated areas of New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, and 

South Carolina. 

PPQ’s eradication strategy for ALB includes surveys, regulatory inspections and quarantine restrictions, 

removal of infested and high-risk trees, and chemical treatment applications. PPQ conducts several 

cycles of surveys to determine the scope of infestation, establish a quarantine area, identify trees to 

remove or treat, determine if the pest has spread outside of the established quarantine area, and 

determine when to release an area from quarantine.
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A survey cycle is the time it takes to complete a survey of a given area, which can take several years 

depending on the size of the area, the density and type of trees in the area, and type of landscape or land 

use. PPQ can declare eradication after a minimum of 4 years between the last detection of the pest in a 

given area and the completed final survey cycle, when PPQ can declare eradication. PPQ provides 

ongoing support to evaluate new methods and protocols to combat regulated pests and tailors project 

responses to site-specific conditions, resulting in a more efficient program. Currently, each regulated 

area is at a different stage of eradication and faces unique, local conditions. In FY 2022, the program 

surveyed a total of more than 656,000 trees across the four regulated areas.

In the Long Island, New York, outbreak, the program surveyed 42,515 trees and found only 14 new 

infested trees in FY 2022. The program prepared for additional removals of high-risk host trees in the 

quarantined zone by contacting and gaining approval from homeowners. Tree removals will take place 

in FY 2023. The New York ALB program also collaborated with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) on a 

risk-based model for beetle dispersal using past infested tree data to help determine areas of low risk and 

where to prioritize survey efforts. The program has surveyed a cumulative 1.7 million trees in Long 

Island over the program’s life and removed more than 8,000 trees.

To address ALB in Worcester County, Massachusetts, the program continued ongoing survey efforts—

surveying nearly 266,000 trees in densely wooded, hard-to-access areas in FY 2022. The program found 

no new infested trees in Massachusetts, indicating the program is making progress. Over the program’s 

lifetime, the program has surveyed more than 10 million trees and removed 36,263 high-risk host and 

infested trees. 
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In Tate Township, Ohio, the program surveyed nearly 279,000 trees, found 77 new infested trees, and 

removed more than 1,000 infested and high-risk host trees in FY 2022. After completing final surveys of 

host trees in a portion of the quarantined area, PPQ issued a Federal Order to remove 7.5 square miles of

the ALB quarantine area of East Fork State Park, in Batavia and Williamsburg Townships, Clermont 

County, Ohio. Surveying and infested tree removal efforts continued in the remaining 49 square miles of 

the Ohio quarantine area. The program has surveyed a cumulative 4.3 million trees in Ohio and removed 

approximately 115,000 since the initial detection in 2011.

In FY 2022, efforts in South Carolina (the most recently detected outbreak) focused on ALB surveys in 

the southern part of the quarantine area and removal of infested and high-risk host trees in the core area 

of the infestation. This regulated area includes forested and wetland areas, making access for surveys 

and tree removals challenging. Experienced staff from other ALB regulated areas deployed to the South 

Carolina outbreak to provide support. The program surveyed nearly 69,000 trees and removed 1,530 in 

FY 2022. In South Carolina, the program has surveyed approximately 142,000 trees since FY 2020 and 

removed approximately 6,500.

In FY 2019, the program began investigating the use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) equipped with 

digital cameras as an additional survey tool. In FY 2020, the program planned to continue the 

investigation of this tool and its use. Due to travel-related COVID-19 restrictions, much of the work did 

not occur at the planned pace in FY 2020 or FY 2021. In FY 2022, the program conducted the UAS 

evaluation to determine if it could inspect ALB damage and conduct host tree mapping. The results of 

the testing concluded that the camera performance was insufficient for visual surveys under the tree 

canopy, and it was not able to accurately diagnose ALB damage. However, the UAS has the potential to 

map locations of ALB host trees. The program may consider the use of UASs to determine locations 
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where ALB host tree surveys are needed and provide host mapping in areas where ground access is 

difficult. This includes the wetland areas in South Carolina.

Emerald Ash Borer 

Another forest pest of concern is EAB. In 2002, this pest was first detected in Michigan and has since 

been detected in 34 additional States and the District of Columbia. In FY 2022, PPQ detected EAB in 

Oregon and confirmed detections in 42 new counties. 

EAB has spread beyond what a regulatory program can control. In FY 2019, PPQ initiated proposed 

rulemaking to deregulate EAB and redirect resources for controlling the spread of this devastating pest 

using biological control agents and exploring ways to preserve ash resources. On September 19, 2018, 

PPQ published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to remove the EAB Federal domestic quarantine 

regulations. In FY 2020, PPQ reviewed and responded to all comments received during the open public 

comment period and in FY 2021, PPQ published the final rule to remove the Federal domestic EAB 

quarantine. In FY 2022, PPQ continued to transition from a regulatory program to a management and 

biological control program. In support of the transition, PPQ provided more than 2,000 EAB survey 

traps and held three webinar training workshops for State and Tribal cooperators in 22 States in FY 

2022.

The program’s biological control initiative is designed to effectively manage EAB populations. It 

provides a promising strategy, using four species of parasitic stingless wasps for long-term EAB 

management. To date, the EAB program has cumulatively released a total of more than 8 million 

parasitic wasps in 369 counties within 31 states and Washington, D.C. 
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PPQ and cooperators continue to assess the impacts of the parasitic wasps on EAB populations and tree 

health at release sites and nearby areas. Field evaluations indicate the EAB parasitoid wasps and other 

EAB natural enemies are protecting sapling ash from EAB. 

Spongy Moths 

The spongy moth (SM, formerly known as the European gypsy moth) is a destructive pest for some of 

North America’s most beautiful and popular deciduous trees, including maples, oaks, and elms. This 

pest is established in all or parts of 20 northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern States, as well as the 

District of Columbia. PPQ and State cooperators conduct regulatory activities in the quarantine area to 

prevent the human-assisted spread of the pest and the establishment of SM populations in nonquarantine areas. These efforts include inspection, treatment, and certification of regulated articles for 

movement from quarantine to non-quarantine (non-infested) areas.

The program issues compliance agreements and conducts public outreach to ensure that businesses and 

residents in infested areas comply with regulations to prevent long-distance spread of the pest. EGM 

also spreads naturally into areas bordering the quarantined zone. PPQ monitors the transition zone along 

the 1,200-mile-long border of the quarantine area to ensure that newly infested areas are added to the 

quarantined zone and regulated effectively. Working with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the EGM 

Slow-the-Spread Foundation, PPQ and cooperators have greatly reduced the rate of EGM’s spread and 

eradicated isolated populations, preventing this pest from becoming a larger issue. In FY 2022, PPQ and 

State cooperators continued to conduct EGM surveys to detect, delimit, and eradicate any isolated 

populations. 
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Flighted spongy moth (FSM, formerly known as Asian gypsy moth) is an invasive threat to North 

American urban and natural forests because of its broad host range, demonstrated damage potential, and 

its ability to compromise an effective management system that has taken nearly 100 years of research to 

assemble. AGM poses a particular risk to western areas because of its ability to hitchhike on shipping 

vessels from Asia. PPQ supports the exclusion of AGM through negotiations and support of offshore 

ship inspection and certification. Due to an increase in AGM egg masses that were intercepted on ships 

in 2012, PPQ, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, and the 

Canadian Food Inspection Agency conducted increased outreach to the maritime shipping trade over the 

last several years. 

In FY 2022, PPQ and State cooperators performed a precision delimitation response, to determine if 

there was a population present in Washington following a single AGM detection in FY 2021. The 

precision delimit response did not detect any additional moths. Additionally in FY 2022, PPQ supported 

post-treatment delimitation responses following eradication treatments for a single detection of AGM in 

Washington and for EGM at a single location in Minnesota. The program and its partners also conducted 

delimiting surveys in California and Oregon, for AGM that were detected in FY 2019 and FY 2020. The 

surveys did not detect any additional moths.

Shot Hole Borers 

Various non-native shot hole borers have been detected in several States and hosts, including numerous 

woody trees in forests and urban landscapes, cultivated tea, and avocado. Shot hole borers are also 

called ambrosia beetles because they have a symbiotic relationship with ambrosia fungi, which they 
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vector from tree to tree. The fungi disrupt the vascular system of impacted trees. In recent years the 

polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers and diseases they cause have been devastating riparian 

habitats in southern California and urban areas in other parts of California. At California’s request, PPQ

and USFS helped establish a working group, led by USFS, with the goal of strategically addressing the 

shot hole borers in California.

In FY 2022, PPQ continued to provide support for addressing the management of shot hole borers in 

California. This support included assisting with the foreign exploration of biological control agents and 

continuing efforts to determine host specificity of parasitoids on SHB populations. PPQ plans to 

continue these projects in FY 2023.