Thousand Cankers Disease of Black Walnut

Updates

August 9, 2011 The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Penn State Cooperative Extension confirmed the presence of Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) in black walnut trees in Bucks County in Eastern Pennsylvania. PDA issued a quarantine on Bucks County, as well as restricting movement of walnut wood into the state from 11 known infested states. PDA also has an informational website regarding this new detection. The Missouri Department of Agriculture prohibits the importation of certain walnut items from states known to be infested with TCD including Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee, as well as 9 western states through its state exterior quarantine.

July 21, 2011 The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has confirmed Thousand Cankers Disease of Black Walnut (TCD) in Richmond, VA and issued this press release. This is the second state in the native range of black walnut to confirm TCD. VDACS has implemented a temporary quarantine covering Chesterfield and Henrico counties and the city of Richmond. Tennessee was the first state in the native range of black walnut to discover TCD, when it was confirmed in the Knoxville area in 2010. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has an informational website which details their ongoing efforts.

Effective April 12, the Missouri Department of Agriculture enacted a state exterior quarantine to protect Missouri's black walnut resource from this newly described pest complex. The emergency rule is available here. Several other states are enacting similar quarantines: Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin. Check back frequently for new additions.

Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) is a pest complex that is causing mortality in walnut in many western states. It is caused by the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis) and an associated fungus (Geosmithia sp. nov.). Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is highly susceptible to this disease, but TCD has not yet been found in the native range of black walnut. The following pest alert from Colorado State University provides an overview of TCD.

If you suspect you have seen TCD in Missouri, please contact the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Office of the State Entomologist at (573) 751-5505. For those outside of Missouri, the contact information for your state plant regulatory official can be found at the National Plant Board website at www.nationalplantboard.org under “membership”.

Thousand Cankers Disease of Black Walnut National Conference

The first Thousand Cankers Disease of Black Walnut National Conference was held in St. Louis, Missouri on November 3-4, 2009. Hosted by the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the Missouri Department of Conservation, it was attended by over 145 participants from 24 states and Washington, D.C. Those in attendance traveled to St. Louis to learn more about Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD), and to discuss a national response to protect black walnut (Juglans nigra) in its native range. As a result of the conference, a national taskforce is being developed, and several state and federal agencies are working together on a unified response for survey, outreach, regulatory and research efforts. The program booklet with list of sponsors and speaker bios is available here.

The following are materials from the conference. A Proceedings from the conference, including audio from each speaker, is available by contacting the Office of the State Entomologist at (573) 751-5505.

Conference Speakers

Ned Tisserat, Colorado State University: slideshow, notes
Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University: slideshow, notes
Kathleen Alexander, City of Boulder, Colorado: slideshow, notes
Steve Seybold, US Forest Service: slideshow, notes
Larry Frye, National Walnut Council: slideshow, notes
Mark Coggeshall, University of Missouri: slideshow, notes
Bruce Moltzan, US Forest Service: slideshow, notes
Scott Pfister, USDA-APHIS-PPQ: slideshow, notes
Collin Wamsley, Missouri Department of Agriculture: slideshow, notes
Jerry Van Sambeek, US Forest Service: slideshow, notes
Brian Hammons, Hammons Products: slideshow, notes
Jay Pscheidt, Oregon State University: slideshow, notes
Harlan Palm, Missouri Walnut Council: slideshow, notes
Chris Ranger: slideshow, notes
Jason Oliver: slideshow, notes
Panel Discussion (moderated by Manfred Mielke, US Forest Service): slideshow, notes

Links of Interest

Missouri Department of Conservation: Forest Health Program
Colorado State University: Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management
University of California at Davis: Integrated Pest Management Program
Tennessee Department of Agriculture: Division of Regulatory Services
National Plant Board: contact information for state plant regulatory officials
National Association of State Foresters: contacts for the state forester in each state
National Plant Diagnostic Network: NPDN diagnostic lab for each state
Walnut Council: also has links to state associations

Other TCD-Related Documents

TCD Pest Alert From U.S. Forest Service
TCD Pathway Analysis conducted by USDA-APHIS-PPQ
TCD Q&A from Colorado State University
TCD Field Identification Guide from US Forest Service and UC-Davis
TCD Economic Assessment for Missouri from the Missouri Department of Conservation