State Targets Invasive Insect

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is taking steps to protect our state’s fir trees from an invasive bug. The Balsam woolly adelgid is a sap-feeding insect that attacks fir trees, including balsam fir and Fraser fir. The tiny insects work their way into the tree through cracks in the bark, and feed on the sap. Their saliva is toxic… causing scarring in the tree’s sapwood, which cuts off the supply of water to the tree. While the Balsam woolly adelgid has not been seen in Michigan, it has caused significant timber damage in Canada, our Pacific Northwest, and the Adirondack Mountains. 95 percent of the fir trees in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have been killed. Michigan will prohibit importing most nursery stock and unprocessed wood products from infected areas.

Additional information about the BWA quarantine is available here.