There's a new foreign insect pest stalking Maryland's pine trees, and state agriculture officials expanded the pine shoot beetle quarantine zone Friday into Baltimore's suburbs in a bid to slow the pest's advance toward valuable loblolly pine timberlands on the Eastern Shore.
The state is especially concerned about reaching small Christmas tree farmers who might not be aware of the threat, so that inspectors can monitor their farms and enlist them in the battle.
"Even though we haven't seen much damage in Maryland, we're … on the front lines, trying to keep it from moving into the big, pine-producing regions in the South, including the Eastern Shore," said Carol Holko, manager of the state Agriculture Department's Plant Protection and Weed Management Section.
Newly added to the quarantine zone are Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties. They join Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and Montgomery counties, which have been added over the years since the beetle was first discovered in Maryland in 1994.
Growers in the newly quarantined counties should not hesitate to get involved with the state program, said Marshall Stacy. He's the owner of Pinetum Enterprises, Inc., a 160-acre Christmas tree farm near Swanton, in Garrett County, where the pine shoot beetle arrived years ago.
"It's no burden," he said. "I think it's a good thing … The [Maryland Department of Agriculture] is extremely helpful. It is not big government coming down on you. I can only say good stuff about it."
In a global economy, he said, Maryland has grown accustomed to assaults from foreign pests, including the emerald ash borer, the gypsy moth and the Asian long-horned beetle.
"There's a lot of stuff going on, and a small grower could be in really bad shape real fast and not realize what's happening," Stacy said. "The MDA can say, 'Look, we found a beetle in your area.' And you'd better be ready to do something about it."
Part of a federal program, the Maryland quarantine requires that all shipments of cut pine Christmas trees, pine nursery stock, pine logs, stumps and lumber with bark attached, and pine bark mulch be certified beetle-free before they can be moved outside the quarantine zone.
The pine shoot beetle (Tomicus piniperda L.), is a tiny European bug first discovered in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1992. It has since spread to 16 states, from Iowa to West Virginia and Maine.
The tiny black bug lives and feeds in the shoots of pine trees in summer, and burrows into the bark in winter. In spring, the adults emerge and lay their eggs in stressed or dying pines, recently cut pine stumps, logs and bark mulch.
Infested pines sustain damage to terminal and lateral shoots, stunting the trees' growth. In large-enough numbers, the bugs can weaken and kill otherwise healthy trees.
The beetle prefers scotch pines but will feed and reproduce in most pine species, state officials said. They do not affect hemlock, spruce or fir trees. And that has been good news for Christmas tree growers, Stacy said.
"If this had happened 20 years ago, when everybody was growing scotch pine, it would have been a much bigger problem for Christmas tree growers," he said. But the long-needled scotch pine fell out of fashion, replaced by short-needle Douglas fir, and more recently by Frasier fir trees.
"Economically it's not a big deal," he said. He agreed years ago to have the state post traps on his property, and they have caught pine shoot beetles in some years.
"We have our trees checked before we ship them," he said. MDA inspectors also make sure tree "slash," or waste, the culled trees and stumps, are properly chipped or burned. And they follow up with inspections on the retail lots where the trees are sold.
Stacy sprays the trees for the beetle and other pests when he must. But "spraying is always a last resort," Stacy said.
Bill Underwood, a past president of the Maryland Christmas Tree Association and owner of Pine Valley Christmas Trees in Elkton, said he knows of no growers who have had a serious problem with the pine shoot beetle, since pines have gone out of favor with consumers.
But small growers not already involved with the MDA should become part of the beetle program anyway, he said.
"It's certainly a darn good thing to do," he said. "They're not going to create any problems for you. They're … going to put the traps out. It's the only way to make a determination of whether you've got the bugger or not."
Christmas tree and nursery growers and shippers in Maryland's quarantined area are asked to contact the Maryland Department of Agriculture, at 410-841-5920, for information on compliance and inclusion in the Pine Shoot Beetle management program.