PIERRE — The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources has confirmed an infestation of emerald ash borer in Brookings.
 
DANR has expanded the existing state plant pest quarantine to include Brookings County. The updated quarantine area now includes all of Brookings, Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner and Union Counties. EAB has been identified in the communities of Baltic, Brandon, Brookings, Canton, Crooks, Dakota Dunes, Lennox, Sioux Falls and Worthing. The quarantine is designed to slow the spread of EAB.  
 
The quarantine, which is in place year-round, prohibits the movement of firewood and ash materials out of Brookings, Lincoln, Minnehaha, Turner, and Union counties. Movement of firewood from any hardwood species, whether intended for commercial or private use, is also restricted. If an ash tree is infested before it is cut, the wood may still contain EAB larvae. An individual split piece of ash firewood can have five or more adults emerge yet this summer.