The EAB larva was reportedly found in a small sentinel tree at the Osborne Welcome and Nature Center in Clayton County.

Officials from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, DNR and Iowa State University Extension have been conducting extensive scouting of the tree and around the Osborne Center this week.

The Osborne Center is located approximately five miles south of Elkader and approximately 60 miles southwest of where an EAB infestation was confirmed in Wisconsin in early April of this year.

Clayton County is one of the top producers of forest products in Iowa.  The county has an estimated 66 million woodland trees and an estimated 6.6 million ash trees.

EAB has been killing trees of various sizes in neighborhoods and woodlands throughout the Midwest. Ash is one of the most abundant native tree species in North America, and has been heavily planted as a landscape tree in yards and other urban areas. According to the Iowa DNR, Iowa has an estimated 58 million rural ash trees and approximately 30 million more ash trees in urban areas.