State weighs quarantine to stop pine beetles

Published 9:42 am Wednesday, December 3, 2014

ST. PAUL — Minnesota regulators have proposed a quarantine in hopes of keeping mountain pine beetles out of the state.

The beetle has devastated huge swaths of forest in the Rockies, and scientists fear the insects could threaten the majestic pines of Minnesota and other Great Lakes states someday. They’re already established in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Living specimens have not been found in Minnesota so far, but dead beetles have been found twice in wood transported to Minnesota.

The Minnesota Forest Resources Council supports the quarantine.

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