MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have joined forces this spring to fight the spread of a destructive forest pest, the pine shoot beetle.

The match head-sized beetle, native to Europe and Asia, was accidentally introduced to North America in 1990, according to a statement from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

The insect is active during spring when it searches for living pine trees, stumps and logs. The insect tunnels into pine bark and lays eggs.

“This is the time of maximum mobility for the beetles and the time in which it is crucial to limit the transport of beetles into uninfested areas,” the statement said.

Businesses that are logging, trucking, milling and handling pine logs and bark mulch are being asked to adhere to a new management protocol for handling materials that could harbor the beetles.

Pine processors are required to present certification when receiving pine products in states or counties where the beetle has not been found.

During times of the year when beetle movement is high, pine processors may not be allowed to receive logs, bark mulch or pine nursery stock if they are not able to comply fully with the guidelines.

The guidelines also call for stripping the bark from pine logs and grinding or composting bark to kill the beetles before shipment.

In Vermont, the beetle so far has been found in Essex, Orleans, Caledonia and Washington counties.

The regulations apply in those counties, as well as Coos County, N.H., and Oxford and Franklin counties in Maine.

Most New York counties also are under the regulations.

Several Web sites are devoted to the biology of the pine shoot beetle and to management protocols. Internet users are urged to do a Web search using the key words “pine shoot beetles.”

AP-ES-05-10-04 1428EDT