SOUTHINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Experts say that the invasive Emerald Ash Borer will likely kill off most of Ohio's ash trees in the coming years.
Authorities tell The Vindicator newspaper that the ash tree will likely go the way of Ohio's elm trees, most of which wiped out by Dutch Elm Disease in the 1960s and '70s.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources urban forester Alan Siewert tells the newspaper that the beetle travels on vehicles and is dislodged at rest stops and in accidents. It has been traveling east from Detroit since 2002, making it as far as Pittsburgh along Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes.
Ohio is already under a state-wide quarantine, making it illegal to remove ash trees, ash materials, or hardwood firewood from any of Ohio's 88 counties into a non-quarantined area.