BELCHERTOWN — A pernicious pest has been detected for the first time in Belchertown.
“It’s another one on the list,” said Ken Gooch, forest health program director for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Since September 2018, eight new communities in the commonwealth have seen emerald ash borer outbreaks, including Belchertown, Northampton, Easthampton and South Hadley.
The emerald ash borer is a nonnative beetle which, in its larval form, can prove deadly to ash trees. Since its detection in Michigan in 2002, it has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees and cost municipalities hundreds of millions of dollars.
The destructive insect has been found in 31 states including four in New England — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Gooch said that DCR was informed about the Belchertown infestation by a University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate student at a conference in Vermont last week. The infestation was confirmed by DCR on Monday.
A new infestation can occur through the natural movement of the species. Gooch attributed the presence of the beetle in Northampton, Easthampton and South Hadley to the beetle’s natural spread up the Connecticut River.
However, Gooch said, the infestation in Belchertown was caused by humans.
“Somebody definitely move it there,” he said, noting that the culprit may have been a forester, logger or landscaper.
The beetles can be spread when ash wood, in the form of firewood and live trees, is moved. Although there is no legal prohibition on moving the wood from one part of the state to another, Gooch suggested that those who work with ash move it no more than 5 to 10 miles from its original location, to combat the spread of the disease.
The infestation in Belchertown was found on private property on Green Avenue near the Ludlow border. The state can provide technical assistance and guidance, but it’s up private landowners and municipalities to deal with the damage the beetles cause.
Oftentimes, infestations are hard to detect in the early stages when beetle population density is low, according to the USDA. Signs of an infestation include dead branches near the top of a tree, leafy shoots sprouting from the trunk and extensive woodpecker activity.
Gooch said that those who see an infestation should contact DCR, so that the department can release parasitic wasps in the area to attack the beetles. The hope is that the strategy will eventually get the problem under control. Until then, however, mortality rates for ash trees will continue to be high.
More information about the emerald ash borer can be found at www.emeraldashborer.info. The website is a collaborative effort of the USDA Forest Service and Michigan State University.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com. Gazette reporter Emily Cutts contributed to this story.