Data shows the infestation has spread to Keweenaw County
CALUMET -- The Michigan Tech team working to eliminate the emerald ash borer infestation in Houghton County is ready to start their second year in the field. They’ll return to the woods next Monday and begin cutting girdle traps in more than 400 trees across the Keweenaw.
Known as the SLAM project, their goal is to slow ash mortality rates due to destruction caused by the exotic beetles.
Emerald ash borers were first discovered in the Calumet area in 2008, and now the SLAM team has a better idea of how far they've spread.
"There are 156 grid cells that are positive,” says Andrew Storer, the Tech professor acting as principal researcher on the project. “A lot of those are in areas where we would've expected to find it. They're adjacent to other grid cells where we knew it was. But other areas are new areas where we were surprised to find them, including in southern Keweenaw County."
They shared the news with residents at a public meeting Tuesday night. One person asked if they could determine whether the work was at all successful yet.
"In some of the early data, where they model the development of the insect population, there are indications that there's a measure of difference as a result of these management activities."
The SLAM project is currently funded through an economic stimulus grant set to expire in November.
But the team says they're designing three different proposals and will begin searching for more money to continue their work, which is good news for many locals.
"Much of what you saw on the map is Calumet Township property, and it seems to be progressing,” says Calumet Township Supervisor Paul Lehto. “But it sounded like they have a good handle on control, which is good."
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