Ash Boring Beetle Infests Sleeping Bear Dunes

<p><em> By <a href="mailto:kramertw@interlochen.org">Tom Kramer</a></em></p> <p>The emerald ash borer will be changing the look of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The invasive and highly destructive pest was discovered in the park this past June. 90 percent of the park's ash trees are infested. 20 to 30 percent of the trees within the national lakeshore are ash.  Noel Mac Neil is the integrated pest manager for the park. Mac Neil says damage done by the borer will be obvious, especially in the northern part of Sleeping Bear.</p> <p>"That's the area that's been most affected," she says. "It's slowly starting to come down to the southern part."</p> <p>Mac Neil says one plan to deal with the emerald ash borer is to release predatory wasps in some areas of the park. So far the infestation is only on the mainland - there has been no sign of the pest on the Manitou Islands.</p> <p>The invasive beetle has been in North America for nearly about a decade. It was first found in southern Michigan.</p>