Bowie Participates in Pilot Program to Detect Invasive Beetles

Bowie has been selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and NASA to participate in a pilot program that uses airplane mounted camera to detect the invasive emerald ash borer.

The pest is a nonnative beetle that is responsible for destroying 27 square miles of ash trees in the state of Maryland, according to The Gazette.

Bowie was selected to participate in the roughly $100,000 program because of the 800 or so ash trees that line the city’s streets. A NASA-owned Cessna plane flew over Bowie a few times in June, and the scans taken are expected to detect infested trees.

According to the Gazette, USDA workers are making visual observations this week to confirm what was found in the scans.

Officials said the plane’s ability to scan large areas will be faster and less expensive than individual, visual inspections. Data reports on the scans are expected to be completed by December.

The emerald ash borer came to Maryland in 2003 in a tree shipment from Michigan, causing a huge and devastating infestation in several counties in Maryland.

For more on the program, read the full article on the Gazette.