Bill Skvarla, member of the Asian Longhorned Beetle Citizens' Cooperative, took a picture of infested wood that he said was cut down and left in the Bethel-area June 15. Skvarla said trucks eventually came to move the wood June 17.

Bill Skvarla, member of the Asian Longhorned Beetle Citizens' Cooperative, took a picture of infested wood that he said was cut down and left in the Bethel-area June 15. Skvarla said trucks eventually came to move the wood June 17.
Members of the Asian Longhorned Beetle Citizens’ Cooperative, as well as Bethel residents, are growing concerned about how infested tree removals are being handled by contractors working for the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Bill Skvarla, team coordinator for the ALB cooperative, said several residents noticed that contractors had left a pile of infested wood close to where it was removed near Bick Primary School in Bethel June 15.

Skvarla said the pile sat there for more than 24 hours before contractors removed the wood and took it to the chipping site.

“They left an enormous pile of lumber,” Skvarla said. “I went over there and started taking pictures. You could see that there was active frass being pushed out, and (the wood) was sitting out among other trees that weren’t infested.”

Nancy McCarthy, also a member of the cooperative, said she and her husband, Michael, noticed the heavily infested wood and couldn’t understand why it had been left.

“It is heavily infested wood, and it is over six feet tall,” McCarthy said about the pile. “There were lots and lots of trees next to this pile of wood.”

McCarthy said the wood had obvious signs of tunneling as well as egg sites, exit holes and frass.

“That is the disturbing part,” she said. “You can tell fresh frass from old frass. That is a giveaway that underneath it there is a bug trying to emerge.”

McCarthy said they spread the word about the pile of lumber that had been left, and several people posted photos of the pile on the ALB Cooperative Facebook page.

“Clearly they watch our Facebook page because on Father’s Day, in the rain, they sent people out to move it,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said instead of taking the wood to be chipped, however, contractors moved the wood to another location and left it in the truck.

Rhonda Santos, public information officer for USDA-APHIS, said contractors that were in charge of removing the infested trees informed officials that their truck had broken down in the process of removing the wood June 15.

“The contractor’s truck broke down on Friday so the load was left until Monday morning, and the truck was repaired to remove it,” Santos said.

Santos said they cannot predict when there will be an equipment failure, and the contractor is responsible for removing the wood.

“Typically, once trees are removed, they are brought to the disposal yard that same day,” Santos said.

She said USDA-APHIS officials are working with the contractor to mitigate any failure in getting the wood to the chip yard in the future.

“Once the tree has been removed and brought to the chipping yard it needs to be chipped within 48 hours once it arrives there,” Santos said.

Santos did not believe there was a high risk for beetles to spread from the infested wood to surrounding trees during the time it was left.

“We have not seen an actual beetle yet in the field,” Santos said. “The risk was low.”