[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 49 (Monday, March 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12800-12801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6226]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. 98-088-2]


Declaration of Emergency Because of the Asian Longhorned Beetle

    A serious outbreak of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora 
glabripennis, is occurring in Illinois and New York.
    The Asian longhorned beetle, an insect native to China, Japan, 
Korea, and the Isle of Hainan, is a destructive pest of hardwood trees. 
It is known to attack healthy maple, horse chestnut, birch, Rose of 
Sharon, poplar, willow, elm, locust, mulberry, chinaberry, apple, 
cherry, pear, and citrus trees. It may also attack other species of 
hardwood trees. In addition, nursery stock, logs, green lumber, 
firewood, stumps, roots, branches, and debris of a half an inch or more 
in diameter are subject to infestation. The Asian longhorned beetle 
bores into the heartwood of host trees, eventually killing the host 
trees. Immature beetles bore into tree trunks and branches, causing 
heavy sap flow from wounds and sawdust accumulation at tree bases. They 
feed on, and over-winter in, the interior of the trees. Adult beetles 
emerge in the spring and summer months from round holes approximately 
\3/8\-inch diameter (about the size of a dime) that they bore through 
the trunks of trees. After emerging, adult beetles feed for 2 to 3 days 
and then mate. Adult females then lay eggs in oviposition sites that 
they make on the branches of trees. A new generation of the Asian 
longhorned beetle is produced each year. If this pest moves into the 
hardwood forests of the United States, the nursery and forest products 
industry could experience severe economic losses.
    Since August 1996, infestations of the Asian longhorned beetle have 
been found in a portion of Brooklyn and Queens, NY, an area near 
Amityville, NY, and in three areas in and around Chicago. The damage 
and losses that would occur if the Asian longhorned beetle should 
become established and spread in the United States would be 
substantial. For example, many species of hardwood trees would be 
destroyed, severely harming industries that depend on the wood and 
other products of these trees (e.g., maple syrup, maple sugar, fruit). 
Hardwood lumber industries would face critical supply shortages and 
would be forced to try to meet their needs with imported hardwoods. 
Mature ornamental trees would be attacked, and domestic supplies of 
trees for nursery and landscaping companies would be reduced or 
eliminated. Widespread destruction of hardwood trees in public and 
private forest land would occur, causing enormous direct losses in 
tourism and related industries and enormous losses that cannot be 
easily measured to the aesthetics of our woodlands.
    In cooperation with the States of Illinois and New York, the Animal 
and

[[Page 12801]]

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has initiated a program to 
eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle in Illinois and New York. The 
States of Illinois and New York are assisting APHIS in funding the 
program. However, APHIS resources are insufficient to meet the 
estimated $5.5 million needed for the Federal share. In addition, some 
of these resources may be needed to fund other, small scale emergencies 
before the end of the year.
    Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 
September 25, 1981, 95 Stat. (7 U.S.C. 147b), I declare that there is 
an emergency which threatens the forest and maple syrup industries of 
this country and hereby authorize the transfer and use of such funds as 
may be necessary from appropriations or other funds available to the 
agencies or corporations of the United States Department of Agriculture 
for the conduct of a program to detect the Asian longhorned beetle, 
identify infested areas, control and prevent the spread of the Asian 
longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the United States, and 
eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle wherever it may be found in the 
United States.

    Effective Date: This declaration of emergency shall become 
effective March 9, 1999.
Dan Glickman,
Secretary of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 99-6226 Filed 3-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P