CRANBERRY TWP — A hungry little green beetle that fits on a penny may decimate $760 million in Pennsylvania ash trees.

State Department of Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff traveled from Harrisburg on Friday to participate in a multi-agency news conference and informational session at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center on the emerald ash borer, which was first found by a sharp-eyed U.S. Department of Agriculture intern who plucked a single beetle from an ash tree at the First National Bank on Route 19 in Cranberry.

Wolff said the borer attacks green, white, blue and black ash trees, which number 3 million, or 5 percent, of the total trees on private property and in forests in Pennsylvania. The beetle lays its eggs inside the ash tree, then the larvae hatch and the beetles bore their way out. In doing so, they leave a telltale hole in the tree that resembles a letter "D" lying on its back.

The wood-boring beetle, which originated in Asia and likely traveled to the U.S. in packing pallets, has no natural enemies and cannot be safely eradicated by any insecticide. The emerald ash borer, whose arrival in Pennsylvania has been expected for years by experts, can kill a large ash tree in about three years. Early signs of infestation, which cannot be prevented or halted, are a yellowing of the tree's highest branches.

The emerald ash borer does not disappear after a few years like the gypsy moth infestation in the 1980s, but will stay and continue to kill ash trees until scientists develop an insecticide or other means to kill it. Officials estimate the entire state will be infested in 12 years.

Upon the discovery in Cranberry Township, Wolff ordered an immediate ash tree quarantine in Butler, Lawrence, Allegheny and Beaver counties. The quarantine means the possibility of a $200 per-violation fine and 90 days in jail for those caught transporting ash trees outside of the quarantined counties.

Walt Blosser, a state Department of Agriculture plant regulatory official, said certain provisions exist within the quarantine that would allow those in the lumber or logging business to haul ash trees outside the quarantine area. Ash wood meeting the rigorous provisions, which include a specific type of kiln-drying and chipping of excess limbs and bark, must be certified by the department of agriculture before it can be shipped outside the quarantine area.

Blosser said ash can be shipped inside the four-county quarantine area. He said in Michigan, portable mills were used to cut the lumber within a quarantined area so lumber could be made from the trees within the strict quarantine provisions. The lumber was then kiln-dried and certified before it was shipped out for use in cabinetry and furniture.

He and other officials at the forum stressed campers should not move firewood to locations outside the quarantine area, as that is exactly how the beetle was transported from its original U.S. home in Michigan to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and now Pennsylvania.

Jim Grace of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources could not stress the firewood recommendation enough.

"Going camping seems to mean bringing your own firewood," said Grace. "That has been a main cause of the spread of this pest."

Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist with the state agriculture department, said 20 or so field workers had found about 30 specimens of the beetle as of Friday afternoon. He said thousands of pieces of evidence, such as larvae and tree damage, have been found in the five-square-mile area being searched around First National Bank.

"They're out there and flying around," said Spichiger. "The adults can be found on the leaves of sunny trees. They also fly and land on the infested trunks of the trees."

Chad Forcey of the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association stressed the beetles present no harm to other trees and no health risks to humans.

"Continue to enjoy gardening," said Forcey. "Take your kids to the park and rest assured the emerald ash borer is not a threat to you, your families or your other trees."

Forcey said he has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture's emerging plant pests program for $45 million for pest management. His association is also working with Senators Arlen Specter and Robert Casey to pressure President Bush to release pest-management funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation.

Likewise, Gov. Ed Rendell has asked for $2.2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help fund the removal and destruction of ash trees. Blosser said until the breadth of the current infestation is determined and funding is secured, it will not be known how much or if Pennsylvanians will receive financial help in removal and disposal of the trees.

Homeowners who attended the forum asked what to do with their ash trees, which they were told would eventually be infested. Blosser said residents should cut the trees down in the fall, as doing so now would enhance the spread of the beetle. He said an agriculture department official would then come and confirm infestation and inform the resident of quarantine guidelines on disposing of the tree.

He said highest-hazard trees, such as the dead trees found by field workers in the quarantine area, would be removed first. He recommended residents remove ash saplings before they become large and expensive to cut down and dispose of.

Spichiger said because of their hardiness, ash trees are popular in ornamental plantings along streets, which represents a potential hazard if an infested tree would fall.

"Those, unfortunately, would probably get priority over a wooded lot (for removal)," said Spichiger.

Blosser said current emerald ash borer containment practices involve clear-cutting all ash trees within a half-mile of the area where infestation has been detected, but he admitted millions of dollars were spent on the practice in Michigan with no results.

He said once the largest concentration of emerald ash borer infestation is determined in the five-mile area around Cranberry Township, a new 25-mile grid would be created for further testing.

Spichiger said DCNR "trap trees" have been in place at Moraine State Park for four to five years in anticipation of the beetle, but none of the beetles have been found in those trees.

Blosser said the tiny, flying beetle would eventually do away with all Pennsylvania ash trees unless scientists are successful at finding a means of eradication.

"This beetle is here to stay," he said.