A tiny beetle known for decimating ash trees throughout North America and Europe has been discovered for the first time in Portland and has spread to new sites in several other counties where the invasive pest has already been detected, city and state forestry officials said Wednesday.
In Portland, the emerald ash borer was found in the parking lot of the David Douglas Aquatics Center in Portland’s Hazelwood-Mill Park area in outer southeast Portland.
The discovery puts all of Multnomah County into the quarantine zone. It’s the fifth county to be quarantined. The others are Clackamas, Washington, Marion, and Yamhill counties.
The state-imposed quarantine limits movement of firewood, mulch, stumps or any other plant materials from ash, olive or white fringe trees, officials said. In th