Emerald ash borer discovered in Evanston         

Illinois Department of Agriculture, city government working to implement response plan and encourage public support

[JULY 25, 2006]  EVANSTON -- The Illinois Department of Agriculture confirmed Friday that emerald ash borers have been found in Evanston.

The infestation was discovered by an Evanston Parks/Forestry Division employee while assisting in an extensive survey initiated as a result of an infestation in Wilmette. Beetles were found in seven trees in Lovelace Park, located at Gross Point Road at Thayer Street, in the far northwest area of Evanston. In addition, the emerald ash borer was discovered in a tree on private property on the east side of Gross Point Road at Thayer Street.

Emerald ash borer is a destructive, non-native pest that feasts on ash trees. The first Illinois case was detected in June in Kane County. The insect was found in Wilmette the second week of July. A quarantine zone has been established around 51 square miles of Kane County to contain the spread there. Once the survey in Cook County is complete, the quarantine will be amended to reflect the infestation in Wilmette and Evanston.

"The initial EAB find in Wilmette included 16 infested trees within a five-block area," said Warren Goetsch, division manager of natural resources for the Illinois Department of Agriculture. "We have now found 30 infested trees within two communities, all within a three-fourths-mile radius of the original detection. At this point we don't know how much farther the infestation will reach, but we can't stress enough how important community participation is in fighting the battle against the emerald ash borer."

"Evanston staff will promptly respond to all suspected sightings of the EAB," said Douglas J. Gaynor, director of Evanston's Parks/Forestry and Recreation Department. "After EAB was discovered in Wilmette, we received calls from residents to report suspected cases. At first, sightings were reported at intersections without any ash trees in the vicinity. Residents are becoming better at recognizing ash trees, and more of them know that the EAB is smaller than a penny. We expect the number of false sightings to decrease as more people become educated."

Evanston libraries and community centers have information packets on the emerald ash borer and large posters on display with color photos. In addition, residents are encouraged to visit www.emeraldashborer.info to view photographs of the insect and learn more about its life cycle.

"The good news is residents and interest groups are on the lookout," said Mark Younger, Evanston's city arborist. "The faster we can detect and respond to a positive case, the better chance we have of isolating and containing the pest."

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic-green beetle native to Asia. Its larvae burrow into the bark of ash trees, causing the trees to starve and eventually die. While the beetle does not pose any direct risk to public health, it does threaten the tree population. Since the emerald ash borer was first confirmed in the Midwest in the summer of 2002, more than 20 million ash trees have died.

Evanston has 4,059 ash trees on its parkway and in its parks, which is about 12 percent of the city's 33,000 public trees. Additionally, there are thousands of ash trees on private property in Evanston. Ash trees were widely planted in the city and in much of northeast Illinois because they are fairly inexpensive and generally quite tolerant of soils and climate in the area.

In 1999, Evanston created a policy whereby any tree species that made up more than 10 percent of the overall population would no longer be planted on public property. This means the city has not planted any new ash trees since 1999. This effort to further diversify the overall tree population was specifically aimed to minimize the effects of an infestation.

Evanston residents with questions are asked to visit www.cityofevanston.org, call [phone] or send an email to [e-mail].

Steps residents can take

The Evanston Parks/Forestry Division believes that public education about the emerald ash borer offers the best hope for preventing its spread throughout the region. Evanston property owners are asked to:

• Help monitor and report -- Learn about the emerald ash borer, check your ash trees for the pest, and call [phone] if you believe you have found either the insect or an infested ash tree. The city will respond promptly to all such calls.

• Stay informed and follow directives from the Illinois Department of Agriculture -- Check for periodic updates at www.cityofevanston.org, www.agr.state.il.us and www.emeraldashborer.info.

• Refuse to move firewood or purchase ash wood -- Use only local firewood (even when traveling), and burn the wood on-site or leave it when you move on. Especially, don't bring firewood or logs from other states, or any areas that may become quarantined in Illinois, to Evanston. Do not purchase any firewood containing ash wood until further notice.

• Care for ash trees -- Call the Parks/Forestry Division, [phone], if a public ash tree seems sick or needs maintenance. Care for private trees routinely, using arborists certified by the International Society of Arboriculture when hiring tree care companies.

• Plant for diversity -- Do not plant ash trees. Plant underutilized tree species instead.

[Illinois Department of Agriculture news release]