Add Inver Grove Heights to the growing list of metro-area cities with the ash-tree killing bug.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has confirmed an emerald ash borer infestation in three trees in the northwest corner of the city. Another 11 trees are showing symptoms, said Eric Carlson, the city’s parks and recreation director.
The trees are in the public right-of-way and in an area north of Upper 55th Street, he said.
The city is investigating the infestation and encouraging residents to look for signs of the beetle, especially now that trees are still bare.
Dakota County has been under a state-imposed quarantine since December 2014, when the pest was found in Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan. Since, it has also been found in Apple Valley, Burnsville, Hastings, Lakeville, Mendota Heights, Mendota and West St. Paul.
In Minnesota, it was first discovered in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul in May 2009 and in Minneapolis a year later.
Emerald ash borer larvae kill trees by tunneling into the wood and feeding on the tree’s nutrients. It’s estimated that Minnesota has more than 1 billion ash trees, the most of any state in the nation.