| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Kimberly Merenz |
| March 26, 2004 | (406) 444-3730
TTY (406) 444-4687 |
Quarantine Issued to Protect Montana Plants
HELENA, Mont. — State agriculture officials Friday imposed a quarantine on camellia, viburnum and other at-risk nursery and potted plants from California and portions of the Pacific Northwest to protect Montana nurseries and native plants from a fungal disease.
The Montana Department of Agriculture also wants to locate and test potted camellia plants that 17 Montanans purchased before Christmas from Specialty Plants Inc., a California mail order company.
Utah, Oregon and several other states have imposed similar quarantines to prevent the spread of Phytophthora ramorum, commonly known as Sudden Oak Death. The disease has killed thousands of oak trees along the central California coast, and was found recently in more than a dozen California nurseries.
Montana does not have many of the coastal oak species known to be affected, says Ralph Peck, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture. However, the disease also infects Douglas fir, a commercial tree species in Montana. In nurseries, sudden oak death affects a coastal huckleberry species, and some research indicates that lilacs and other landscape plants may be susceptible.
"We're not certain how many Montana species may be at risk, but we cannot take any chances. We need to protect our state and nursery industry," Peck says.
The Montana quarantine prohibits the importation of any of 59 regulated or associated plant species from California; Oregon's Curry County; and King, Pacific and Pierce counties in western Washington state.
Aggressive control and eradication programs are under way in the Pacific Northwest. Nursery plants from quarantined areas may be imported to Montana if the shipments are certified disease free by state regulators.
Montana nurseries purchase most of their trees, shrubs and other landscape plants from suppliers in Oregon and Washington. The peak shipping season is during the next two months, says Kimberly Merenz, nursery and quarantine specialist at the Montana Department of Agriculture.
Individuals who purchased potted camellias by mail from Specialty Plants Inc. are urged to contact Merenz for instructions at (406) 444-3144 or by email at agr@mt.gov. Information about the quarantine is available at the same number.
General information about the disease and a list of regulated plants can be found on the USDA Animal Plant & Health Inspection Service website at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ispm/sod.
