An invasive beetle could drastically change the landscape at Oregon Country Fair

Kevin Hillery carefully unhooks a sticky purple prism-shaped trap dangling from a large ash tree and lowers it down to his co-worker, Em “EmRo” Roberts. The two are volunteer arborists for the Oregon Country Fair, where ash trees sprawl among the structures and artwork. The trees also hang over creeks and fields, providing shade for wildlife and attendees alike.

It’s Tuesday, July 7, the middle of setup week at the Country Fair. Hundreds of volunteers and vendors are fast at work, prepping for the arrival of thousands of guests.

The pair of arborists are also working this week. They’re monitoring for the inevitable arrival of an unwanted guest, an invasive beetle called the emerald ash borer. Its arrival could drastically change the scenery at the Country Fair, taking away much of the natural appeal of the grounds.

Once the trap is off the branch and into Roberts’ gloved hands, she begins inspecting its sticky surface for the beetle among an array of emerald ash borer lookalikes and other unfortunate insects.

Roberts, an associate professor of arboriculture at Clackamas Community College, previously collaborated on emerald ash borer efforts for the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ Urban and Community Forestry Program. Hillery adds extensive experience as an arborist, with over 40 years in the field and 30 years with the fair. 

The purple traps that Hillery and Roberts have set are scattered throughout the Oregon Country Fair grounds and are supplied by the Oregon Department of Forestry. There are eight in total.

They go up around late May, get checked and rebaited in midsummer, and are taken down in August, toward the end of the emerald ash borer’s flight season.

Inside each trap is a small packet of hexanol, a chemical that helps lure emerald ash borers toward the purple prisms. If one of the insects lands on the trap, the sticky coating holds it in place so the arborists can identify it.

The emerald ash borer, native to eastern Asia, kills ash trees within three to seven years of the beetle being present. The fatality rate for the trees is nearly 100%.

Although it has not been confirmed in Lane County yet, arborists, including Roberts and Hillery, suspect it is here already — just undetected so far.

“Basically every tree you see here right now is ash,” Hillery said, pointing to a dense line of trees circling one of the parking lots. “This is an ash swale, and this area floods every winter and ash loves wet roots and that kind of growing conditions.”

Ash thrives in the wetlands and riparian zones where many other species of trees don’t. Those habitats depend on ash.

Along the Long Tom River, ash trees shade the water as it zigzags through the fair grounds. It keeps the water temperature cool enough for fish, frogs and turtles, while also minimizing erosion.

Roberts estimates that roughly 75% to 80% of the trees on the Oregon Country Fair property are ash. But it’s only an estimate of the scope of the problem.

“We can’t manage what we don’t know we have,” Roberts said. “When we know how much ash we have, we can actually get a number on the percentage and where every ash tree is. Then we can get a better plan for how to move forward with management.”

Strategies of defense

The arborists, along with other Country Fair people, are working on an inventory of the trees, using lidar technology to get detailed information about the forest canopy.

Roberts emphasized that she and Hillery are information collectors and help guide decision-making. They gather data, share strategies and make recommendations, but ultimately the fair’s leaders and its emerald ash borer task force will make the decision on how they deal with ash trees once the beetle arrives.

“The Fair and the state of Oregon have worked hard since 2023 to provide documents and images that help people prepare,” fair Marketing Manager Vanessa Roy said in a written statement.

“We hold trainings and supply documents to help Greeters with the advancements made in EAB prevention since 2023,” she wrote, using an acronym for emerald ash borer.

Roberts said the Country Fair arborists are experienced and well-informed on systemic trunk injections to protect ash populations. They work with state experts on best management practices; however, the fair has ruled out broad-spectrum pesticide sprays.

Many strategies the arborists have suggested have been implemented.

“The Oregon Department of Forestry Urban and Community Forestry Program has been really helpful in getting us set up with our inventory program, Tree Plotter, to help us inventory those trees, which is a little bit challenging on a site that doesn’t have great data coverage,” Roberts said.

Additionally, there is a separate sapling stewardship program that focuses on planting other species of trees to make up for the eventual loss of the ashes. A tree crew focuses on physical tree care, while an emerald ash borer task force handles the Country Fair’s policies.

Educating the public

The Country Fair has implemented strict rules around wood to reduce the chance of the beetle arriving via Country Fair attendees.

Greeters are instructed to confiscate or turn away all guests who bring firewood or any sort of wood that is not debarked or kiln-dried.

According to Roberts and Hillery, the Country Fair has a designated quarantine area for outside wood once it is confiscated. Otherwise, guests will be asked to take the wood back to their home before entering.

They emphasized people should “buy it where you’ll burn it.”

“A huge thing that we talk about is don’t move firewood, which is a great rule of thumb for every human out there, even if we’re moving it from city to city, state to state, across county lines, even just neighborhood to neighborhood,” Roberts said. “ We can unknowingly move invasive forest pests and let them establish in a whole new location.”

The Country Fair has been preparing for the emerald ash borer since it was first confirmed in Oregon in 2022. Hillery says he heard the news as he was leaving that year’s fair. A month later, in August, he helped organize the first educational walk around the grounds with experts from the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Since then, the Country Fair has hosted almost monthly talks and walks about the insect, led by site manager Alexis Maddock, and invited specialists to teach people how to spot the beetle, recognize its many lookalikes and understand what’s at stake for the ash forest.

“I would definitely encourage folks to find the emerald ash borer lookalikes guide from the Oregon Department of Agriculture,” Roberts said.

Hillery says he views the emerald ash borer as “a slow-moving wildfire,” one that could eliminate most of the County Fair’s ash trees within a decade. 

“Get ready. Visualize it,” Hillery said. “This is going to be a huge emotional issue for anybody who has a relationship with ash trees and a huge issue on many other fronts.”