Illinois’ walnut trees in danger

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn has proclaimed Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) to be a viable threat to Illinois’ native black walnut tree population.

Quinn approved regulatory measures this month to restrict the movement of potentially-infested products into Illinois as a preventative measure to protect the economical and environmental well-being of Illinois’ walnut tree industry.

“Illinois has 2.3 million acres of forests that may contain black walnut and be susceptible to this disease,” H.W. Devlin, acting director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said. “Though TCD currently is not known to be here, these measures were warranted to protect our state’s walnut resources.”

Thousand Cankers Disease is a highly-contagious, invasive fungus primarily affecting North America’s black walnut tree population. It is spread by the Walnut Twig Beetle (WTB), which introduces fungal spores into the tree when they form galleries in the phloem. The fungus colonizes the area around the galleries, forming cankers that cause a disruption of the flow of nutrients throughout the tree, resulting in dieback, decline, and eventually, death of the tree.

Because there are no current management strategies for TCD, the regulation of product movement is necessary to protect Illinois’ walnut trees and walnut tree industry.

Individuals and businesses wishing to move regulated materials into or through Illinois that originate in a Thousand Cankers Disease infested area now must enter into a compliance agreement with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The materials must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the originating state verifying they comply with the conditions of the compliance agreement. All regulated materials originating in areas not known to be infested with Thousand Cankers Disease now must be accompanied by proof of the harvest location of the wood by county and state.

“Regulated articles” are defined as the following:

• All plants, plant parts, and products of the genus Juglans; articles of Juglans, including but
not limited to logs, green lumber, firewood, nursery stock, bark, mulch, burls, stumps and packing materials.

• Any of the above said materials passing through a known infested state, regardless of origin.

• All life stages of the Walnut Twig Beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis.)