The state agriculture department added two new counties to its Emerald Ash Borer quarantined areas.
Hickman and Dickson counties in Middle Tennessee joined 63 other counties under both a state and federal quarantine for the beetle.
Its larvae can survive hidden in the bark of firewood and can spread to living trees this way -- meaning the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock or ash timber is banned in the green areas below to prevent the beetles' spread.
The Emerald Ash Borer can kill an ash tree within three years of infestation. The invasive beetle has been responsible for the destruction of tens of millions of ash trees across 30 states, including those in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
To learn more about the Emerald Ash Borer, visit the Department of Agriculture's website.