NASHVILLE (AP) — A quarantine for an insect that destroys ash trees has been expanded to five more Tennessee counties.
The emerald ash borer was confirmed in Cumberland and Bledsoe counties last month.
Franklin, Marshall, Rutherford, Trousdale and Williamson counties are now under restriction for the movement of ash trees and ash tree products after the insect was discovered in traps in those counties.
Tennessee now has 46 counties under state and federal emerald ash borer quarantine, which prohibits the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber and other material that can spread the insects.
Agriculture officials are working to identify infestation using purple box traps placed in ash trees across the state.
The ash borer made its way from Asia to the United States in the 1990s. It was first detected in Tennessee in 2010.