NRS News Release Study Finds that Local Government, Home Owners
Are Paying for Damages Caused by Non-native Forest Insects ST.
PAUL, MINN, September 9, 2011 - Non-native, wood-boring insects
such as the emerald ash borer and the Asian longhorned beetle
are costing an estimated $1.7 billion in local government
expenditures and approximately $830 million in lost residential
property values every year, according to study by a research
team that included scientists with the U.S. Forest Service,
Northern Research Station. The research effort was funded by The
Nature Conservancy and supported by the University of California
/ Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and
Synthesis (NCEAS). The team included scientists from the U.S.
Forest Service and U.S. and Canadian academic institutions. The
research findings were published in the on-line journal PLoS ONE
on Sept. 9. This study provides the most comprehensive estimates
of the costs of non-native forest insects that are currently
available for the U