Fourteen millimetres long and bright green in colour, the emerald ash borer may not look like a threat.  But conservationists say the beetle could devastate Canada’s forests within the next few years if it isn’t contained.  “It’s expanding its range,” said Andrew Holland, a spokesperson for the Nature Conservancy of Canada.  “Once this beetle gets established in a certain area, 99 per cent of those ash trees will die within eight to 10 years.”  Holland said the best way to stop the spread of the beetle is by limiting the transportation of firewood.  “It just sort of gets around on movement of firewood in the nursery stock, branches, that type of thing,” said Holland. “It’s a hitchhiker and it can cause a lot of damage.”  Jim Verboom, a co-owner of Nova Tree in Glenholme, N.S., has been in the lumber industry for 40 years.