The Maine Forest Service is urging residents and municipalities to prepare for the arrival of the emerald ash borer, as the agency wraps up summer surveillance programs to determine how far the invasive beetle has spread.
First detected in Maine in 2018, ash borer infestations are concentrated in Cumberland and York Counties, and far northern Maine in the Frenchville and Madawaska area, though they have also been spreading into central and western Maine.
Allison Kanoti, with the Maine Forest Service, said towns should begin preparing for new infestations by taking inventory of ash trees on public property.
"If you don't know how much ash you have, how big it is, where it is, then you don't know what your response might be for emerald ash borer," she said.
The Maine Forest Service will release the results of its summer surveys in November, which could indicate where new infestations are taking hold.
The emerald ash borer has killed and damaged tens of millions of ash trees since it first appeared in the U.S. in 2002.
At the same time, Maine is getting some relief from browntail moth infestations this year, thanks in part to fungal disease putting a dent in the invasive caterpillar populations.
Kanoti said in recent years early summer surveillance flights have documented tens of thousands of acres damaged by browntail moths.
This summer, she said the damage has fallen off substantially.
"Populations appear to be down in many areas, we had a lot of fungal disease in populations," she said. "Early summer aerial survey flights actually picked up less than 2,000 acres of damage."
Katoni said that means current infestations are harder to locate, adding that feedback from the public is key to finding browntail moth concentrations.
