Humans can unknowingly transport the ALB hundreds of miles in firewood, lumber or other wood materials from infested trees. To help stop the spread of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) from human transport, Federal and State agencies have established quarantine zones around infested areas. These are also called “regulated areas.” The beetle, its larvae and eggs as well as materials that could potentially contain them cannot be moved from quarantine zones. These “regulated” materials include:

• Firewood from all hardwood species.
• Green lumber and living, cut, dead and fallen material from host trees, including:
  
  • Nursery stock
  • Logs
  • Stumps
  • Roots
  • Branches
  • Debris more than ½ inch in diameter

In addition to regulating host materials, additional steps are taken to eradicate the ALB, including surveys, pesticide treatment and tree removal. These efforts have achieved significant results in Hudson County, NJ, and several areas of Illinois, including Chicago. The ALB was declared eradicated from these areas in 2008 proving that with your help, we can stop ALB.

Working in a Quarantine Zone
Many businesses handle plants, nursery stock, tree limbs, branches or wood material that could contain the ALB, its larvae and eggs. In a quarantine zone, you cannot move host materials outside the quarantined area unless they are chipped to less than one inch in two dimensions.

In ALB regulated areas businesses may enter into a compliance agreement with the State ALB Program. To enter into an agreement, individuals and businesses must successfully complete a training program on the proper handling and disposal of ALB host materials. In Massachusetts a compliance agreement is required to handle host material. Without a compliance agreement in Massachusetts, you cannot harvest, cut, move, carry, transport, or ship (or authorize or allow any other person to do the same) regulated materials within or outside of the quarantine zone.

State ALB Programs
For more information on compliance agreements, disposal sites and more, call the ALB Program in your state.

• In Massachusetts, call (866) 702-9938.
• In New York, call (866) 265-0301.
• In New Jersey, call (732) 815-4700.
• In Illinois, call (847) 699-2424.
• In New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut or Rhode Island, call the Massachusetts ALB Program at 866-702-9938 to be forwarded to the State Plant Health Director in your state.
• In Pennsylvania, call the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture at (866) 253-7189 or email badbug@state.pa.us.

Living in a Quarantine Zone
If you live in a regulated area, there are lots of ways you can help stop the spread of the ALB:

• Regularly inspect the trees on your property for the ALB and signs of infestation. If you find either of the above, report it immediately.
• Do not move any regulated material such as firewood, nursery stock, wood debris or lumber from host trees.
• Do not move firewood. Get your firewood where you plan to burn it.
• Allow officials access to your property for inspection and, if necessary, eradication work.
• Move brush, leaves and twigs of regulated materials that are less than ½ inch in diameter to approved disposal sites. Call your State ALB Program for a disposal site near you.
• Don’t plant host trees. View a list of recommended trees.

Click here to find out how one town got rid of the ALB.