It’s a tiny insect, no bigger than a penny. However, the furor it has whipped up in the conservation community is massive. It’s the emerald ash borer, a tiny parasite whose larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients. Ultimately, one  larvae can kill a 100-year-old tree.

To prevent the spread of the parasite, there has been a major push to curtail the movement of firewood across regions. For instance, where i live in New York, they don’t let you bring firewood into state parks unless it was purchased within a few miles of the park.

Recently, however, another type of wood has been identified as a potential parasite spreader–pallets. The USDA  and APHIS are currently exploring tougher regulations on wooden pallets. The USDA recently held a town hall on the topic in Michigan which was covered by local news station WMMT. 

As of 2008, more than 25 million trees had been destroyed by the emerald ash borer. The USDA is now working to figure out if wooden pallets could be contributing.

 For those in the know, there’s a saying on wooden pallets; putting one into circulation is like putting a dollar bill into circulation, once it’s out there, it’s used and reused and there’s no getting it back.

 That’s what concerns the USDA, since the porous wood used in pallets could harbor bacteria and invasive species.

 It’s an issue that people were debating in Grand Rapids on Tuesday, and it could have far-reaching implications for the environment, not just in Michigan, but across the country.

 A study done in 2006 estimated that 7.6 billion board feet of wood were used for pallets, that’s enough wood to fill a forest ten times the size of Manhattan Island in New York.

Some, however, are skeptical. This is partly because the groups pushing hardest for wooden pallet regulations are plastic pallet producers, an obvious conflict of interest.

I’m going to keep an eye on this over the next few weeks and I’ll keep all of you updated on what happens!