"City of Parks" prepares for the Emerald Ash Borer

by STAN STRICKER ( Contact )   Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008
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Podcast Episode

WCLO's Stan Stricker reports on Janesville response

The "City of Parks" is taking notice of the Emerald Ash Borer's appearance in Wisconsin.

The Emerald Ash Borer has been found in Ozaukee County, and Janesville Parks Supervisor Cliff Englert says the city is working to meet the challenge. He says the city will follow the DNR and Department of Agriculture's guidelines for dealing with the devastating pest. Englert expects a suppression campaign similar to the fight against the Gypsy Moth. He's also confident scientists will continue to develop more effective pesticides.

Infestation is a genuine concern though, because the Green Ash is a popular shade tree making up 14% of the trees along Janesville streets.

reader COMMENTS (3)
baseball
Aug 5, 2008 at 4:54 p.m.
Suggest removal

This is all well and good for specimen trees like in people's yards or city streets, but what about those who have wood lots or forested properties. I haven't heard of any way to prevent destruction of huge tracts of woodland ashes.

ktausten

Maples still are everywhere. Sugar and red maples are, by a large margin, the dominant trees in my woods. Ash and black cherry are next in that order. I also get a lot of American Elms, but they die off in periodic waves long before they become mature.

janesvillean
Aug 5, 2008 at 12:50 p.m.
Suggest removal

Maples are still everywhere -- we've got two on our property. I don't think it's as popular a street tree as it used to be, though.
.
The two species in North America that have previously been devastated by disease are the elm and the chestnut. And yes, eventually 100% of the ash population will be affected, at least from a forestry standpoint. There may be a few survivors here and there, but the majority will need to be replaced, either by the city or property owners.
.
We have an ash that has been dying back for about two years now. I've carefully monitored it for any EAB signs and found none, so it's probably just one of several leaf blight things, but essentially there is no point in making an effort to save it since as a weak tree it surely will not survive if (when) the EAB reaches Janesville.

ktaustin
Aug 5, 2008 at 12:40 p.m.
Suggest removal

14% doesn't seem that bad. It's not like 100% of the 14% of trees would be affected. It's certainly better than decades ago when maples were everywhere (not speaking from experience as that was before my time).

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