Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Enacts Quarantine in Response to Detection of Thousand Cankers Disease in Pennsylvania

Effective immediately, Aug. 12, 2011, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has enacted a quarantine restricting the movement of wood from Bucks County and other states known to host the Thousand Cankers Disease (including AZ, CA, CO, ID, NM, NV, OR, TN, UT, VA, and WA). The disease is caused by a fungus found on adult, poppyseed-sized walnut twig beetles, which bore under the bark of walnut trees and cause formation of cankers. There is no cure for the disease and effected trees usually die within ten years due to starvation for nutrients. Given the threat of the disease to the $25 billion hardwood industry, the quarantine restricts movement of all walnut material, live or dead, and all hardwood-species firewood. Penalties for failure to follow the order have been set: criminal penalties of up to 90 days in prison and up to $300 in fines, or a civil penalty up to $20,000 per violation.

View the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture’s News Release here.

For a look at a similar invasive species, please visit the Ag Law Center’s Emerald Ash Borer Resource Area.

Written/Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant