ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota regulators have proposed a quarantine in hopes of keeping mountain pine beetles out of the state.
The beetle has devastated huge swaths of forest in the Rockies, and scientists fear the insects could threaten the majestic pines of Minnesota and other Great Lakes states someday. They're already established in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Living specimens have not been found in Minnesota so far, but dead beetles have been found twice in wood transported to Minnesota.
Mark Abrahamson, an entomologist for the state Department of Agriculture, tells Minnesota Public Radio the proposed quarantine would ban freshly cut logs from states infested with the mountain pine beetle that have the bark still on them. He says that should be effective.
The Minnesota Forest Resources Council supports the quarantine.
