What is the "Emerald Ash Borer Response Project Team" and who is involved?
Last Updated April 18, 2005

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm said
"The State of Michigan, through the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and with the partnership of USDA, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan State University, has undertaken an emergency response program called the Emerald Ash Borer Response Project that has conducted a variety of activities to prevent the spread of EAB across the nation."

When we started researching the EAB online back in the summer of 2004 it took us a while to figure out who is who in this project and what each of their roles is. We still haven't figured them all out but here is what we know right now.

What are the
EAB Task Force?
EAB Response Project?
Emerald Ash Borer Task Force?
EAB Cooperative Response Project Team?
They are all the same as the Emerald Ash Borer Response Project which Governor Granholm refers to above.

If you know of other names I've missed please send them to me at Bob@SaveYourAsh.info

That organization is a collaboration of the
The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA)
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
and Michigan State University (MSU)

That is the group who is fighting the Emerald Ash Borer in Michigan and is responsible for the destruction of healthy ash trees in areas where an EAB has been found. In particular, the The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) is setting the trap trees and hiring the independent contractors who are doing the cutting. I believe that the other agencies listed above are responsible for things like public awareness and quarantine enforcement. I haven't found out yet what each agency is responsible for or who appointed them to do what they are doing. If you know please email the info to me.

What is The National Science Panel?
The Science Advisor Panel?
The SAP?
They are all the same group, appointed by the government to advise the EAB Task force on science matters regarding EAB policy and strategy.

Members of the SAP include
Vic Maestro - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service(APHIS)
Dave Lantz - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service(APHIS)
Richard Readon - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
Bill Wallner - Retired from The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
Dr. Robert Waltz, Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
Dr. Deb McCullough, Michigan State University (MSU)
Dan Herms - Ohio State University (OSU) Extension
Barry Lyons - Canadian Forest Service

Who operates the www.EmeraldAshBorer.info site?
That web site is a collaborative effort of
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA)
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR)
The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Michigan State University (MSU)
Purdue University (PU)
and Ohio State University (OSU)

That web site is the result of support from
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA)
and is administered through Michigan State University (MSU)

MDA Contacts
Toll free phone number - 800-292-3939

Dan Wyant, Director
WyantD@michigan.gov

Keith Creagh, Deputy Director
CreaghK@michigan.gov

Ken Rauscher, Director of Pesticide and Plant Management Division
517-373-9746
Rauscher@michigan.gov

EAB Policy Director for the Governor
Pat Lockwood
517-241-2576
Lockwoodpa@michigan.gov

National and State Agency Liasons

Ken Rauscher
517-373-9746
Rauscher@michigan.gov

Gary King
517-373-9747
Kingg1@michigan.gov

EAB Program Planning and Contracting
Angela Riess
517-241-7467
Riessa@michigan.gov

Communications and Outreach

Tammy Weissenborn
517-335-1120
Weissenbornt@michigan.gov

Jennifer Quimby
517-241-2485
Quimbyj@michigan.gov

EAB Hotline
toll free - 866-325-0023
Johnathan Sheilds
517-373-1087

Marshalling Yards & Municipal Tree Removal Contracts

Pat Lockwood
517-241-2576
Lockwoodpa@michigan.gov

Angela Riess
517-241-7467
Riessa@michigan.gov

Marshalling Yard Operations
John Bedford
810-844-2702
Bedfordj@michigan.gov

Regulatory Outliers & Survey Field Operations
John Bedford
810-844-2702
Bedfordj@michigan.gov

Regulatory Enforcement (Quarantine/Compliance Agreements)
Tom Rose
517-373-4350
Roset@michigan.gov

Restoration Policy

Pat Lockwood
517-241-2576
Lockwoodpa@michigan.gov

Gary King
517-373-9747
Kingg1@michigan.gov

Wood Utilization
Angela Riess
517-241-7467
Riessa@michigan.gov

EAB Coordinator
Tim Flint
FlintT@michigan.gov

Regional Program Manager, SE Michigan Regional Office
Tom Benner
248-356-1701

EAB project manager
Gary King
517-373-9747
Kingg1@michigan.gov

Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Regional Office
information is available at

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/1,1607,7-125-2961_6860_7306---,00.html

Michigan State University Extension Service Regional Office
information is available at

More will be posted as we find it.

If you are interested, I’ll tell you one of the reasons it was important for us to figure out what each organization is responsible for. In the summer or fall of 2004 some trap trees were set up on Harsens Island to detect the presence of the EAB. In October we heard that it was found here. We started making calls to all of the government groups involved to find out where the EAB was found on the island so that we could make island residents aware of just how important it might be to treat the trees on their property. I started making calls to various people on the project team and asking "Where was the borer found on Harsens Island?" After a month I changed my approach to "Can you tell me who knows where the borer was found on Harsens Island?" That didn’t work so I tried "Can you tell me who can tell me who knows where the borer was found on Harsens Island?" I was leaving messages for people and never hearing back from them. I wondered how a state or federally funded professional team could be so uninformed about who was doing what on the project. They didn‘t know who was out there trying to find the bug. I just chalked it up to my inability to figure out who to call. After three months and 30 or 40 phone calls I finally got a phone call in mid January telling me that the EAB was found in three locations on the island, they were sending letters to the affected residents in a couple of days and that I didn’t have to worry about a thing, my property wasn’t affected. I was taken aback by the fact that this person, to whom I had never spoken before, knew I was trying to find out where the borer was found and that she knew where I lived. I began to wonder if the project team had been intentionally avoiding telling me where it had been found and If so, why? I asked the caller about the letter which she mentioned was going out to affected property owners and what that letter was going to say. She said that there was a meeting planned the next week to brief those property owners who were affected, on the project team’s plans for eradication of the pest on the island. I decided that perhaps I should attend that meeting anyway. What they were going to say at the hearing this time, I might be hearing later in the year or next year.

I’m getting off the subject. I’ll tell you later what happened at that meeting. I really just wanted to make the point that there are a lot of different divisions of the four agencies involved in the project and a lot of people doing different kinds of jobs. I will try to lay it all out for you so you don’t have to duplicate all the work we’ve done to figure it out.

Thank you,
Bob Williams