According to the garden media group, the emerald ash borer continues to wreak destruction in Minnesota. Thousands of trees are being removed in St. Paul and Minneapolis, with about 60,000 expected to be cut down. Minneapolis officials now feel about 175,000 trees are at risk in private yards.

The emerald ash borer has already resulted in numerous quarantined areas in Minnesota, including nearby Dodge, Dakota, Olmsted and Fillmore counties. Other eastern Minnesota counties under quarantine include Houston, Scott, Wabasha, Washington and Winona.

The most important thing a person can do in this fight is to not transport firewood. It's best to buy at local sites. Without human help, the emerald ash borer only travels about a half mile to one mile a year.

You can get a better grasp of the destruction and potential destruction that the emerald ash borer can cause at the Ecological Society of America website.

With more than 1 billion ash trees, Minnesota leads the nation in the number of ash trees. So one can see the potential damage that may await our trees and forests.

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