 Among those present were Alderman David Armbrust; Alderwoman
Jonie Tibbs and her husband, Harry; Tracy Jackson, street and alley
superintendent; assistant Russell Wright; several city street
employees; and Mark Mathon, city engineer.Trees Forever is a
not-for-profit organization that was formed in 1989. It works in the
states of Iowa and Illinois. The goal is to help preserve and
promote forestry efforts in communities such as Lincoln through
education, technical assistance and financial assistance.
Last year the city of Lincoln won a $3,000 grant for its forestry
department through Trees Forever. The educational seminar on Monday
was part of the grant stipulations.
The emerald ash borer is a metallic-green insect native to Asia.
It is sometimes mistaken for a Japanese beetle, though upon closer
inspection the emerald ash borer has a more elongated body than the
beetle.
It is believed the EAB made its way to the United States via
packing crates. It first appeared in the U.S. on the East Coast but
over the years has worked its way into the Midwest. Currently there
are serious infestations in the northern part of Illinois,
specifically the Chicago area and its suburbs.
There are also cases existing in DeWitt and McLean counties.
Fluegel said it isn't a case of "will the EAB come to Logan County,"
it is a case of "when the EAB comes."
The insect itself is able to fly only about a half-mile per year,
but its migration west has been aided by people transporting
firewood. The bugs stay in the cut wood, and then emerge and take up
residency in their new locations when the wood is burned.
The emerald ash borer preys exclusively on ash trees, though
Fluegel said there was one report of it taking residency in a
walnut.
Of the ash varieties, the mountain ash seems to be exempt from
the bug attacks, while black and green ashes are the most
susceptible.
The EAB will kill an ash tree over the course of time. Fluegel
said that generally by the time an infestation is noticed, the EAB
has already been in the area five to seven years. From the time it
is noticed, the life expectancy of the infested tree is only another
five to seven years.
The way the infestation works is that the adult insect drills a
small hole into the bark of the ash. Once inside, it lays its eggs.
The eggs mature to the larvae stage and begin eating their way
through the underside of the bark, where nutrients are transported
from the roots to the upper limbs of the tree.
This inner portion of the bark, known as the cambium, when peeled
away will reveal the serpentine markings that show where the larvae
have traveled as they fed on the tree.
One significant indication that the bug infestation is EAB is the
shape they leave when they drill into the bark. The hole will have
one flat side; therefore, it is commonly called a "D" hole in the
bark.
Once the EAB comes into a neighborhood, getting rid of it is a
daunting task that usually, because of the cost of treatment,
involves the destruction of the trees.
Fluegel said there is an injected pesticide that will stop the
insect, but for homeowners, it must be applied by a professional,
and the average cost is $250 per injection.
The best control thus far for budget-conscious individuals and
communities has been to cut down and destroy the trees. Fluegel said
that the outside one-half to 1 inch of the tree is all that is
affected by the EAB, and the interior wood can still be used for
things such as furniture making.
She also noted as a point of interest that the mayor of Homewood,
near Chicago, had the trees on his property cut down and donated the
wood for baseball bats to be made for the local Little Leagues.
In destroying the outer portion of the tree, it can be burned or
chipped, but Fluegel said the chips would have to be 1 inch by 1
inch in order to effectively destroy the bug. Anything larger is
more likely to allow the bugs to survive the process.
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At the moment there are no documented cases of EAB in Lincoln or
Logan County, but with it being close by in Clinton and Bloomington,
the inevitable is probably not all that far away.
Fluegel asked Jackson if the city has a plan in place for the
eradication of the EAB. At the moment there is no concrete plan.
Jackson said he felt like treatment was not going to be an option
for city trees because of the cost, so he felt the only answer would
be to cut and destroy.
Fluegel said there are a couple of options that cities are using
right now. They are doing an integrated program where mature and
healthy trees are being treated, while the younger trees are being
cut.
She said another program involves doing new plantings now, with
the hopes that the new varieties will be somewhat mature by the time
the ash trees have to be destroyed.
She recommended that the city plant a wide variety of trees and
alternate the varieties. She said some are planting three and four
varieties per city block, with no two of the same tree close to each
other. She said this was a good plan because once the EAB is
eradicated, something new will come along and attack another type of
tree. She said if and when that next infestation comes along, there
would be less likelihood that every tree in the block would have to
be destroyed.
To drive home her point, she said there is a new insect on the
way; the Asian longhorn beetle. She said this insect currently has a
history of attacking 13 different varieties of trees.
Fluegel also asked if Jackson had a count of the ash trees in
Lincoln. He and Mathon agreed that the estimate would be 12 to 15
percent of all the trees in Lincoln are ash of some variety. Fluegel
said that is a relatively low number compared with other cities.
Jackson also noted that the city is hoping to work with Logan
County's GIS program to map the ash trees in town. He noted that the
GPS/GIS system had recently been used to map out all the city street
signs, and it had worked very well and was accomplished very
quickly.
Jackson also said he thought one of the problems on the state
level is that there are not enough public warnings about
transporting firewood. He said in other states where the EAB is
present, the warning signs are along the roads, but he doesn't see
that in Illinois.
Jonie Tibbs asked if firewood is inspected for EAB by anyone.
In the case of commercial sellers, the answer is, yes, wood must
be inspected by the state. Jackson said what is hard to control is
individuals who "sell wood out of their backyard." There are no
controls in place for those types of sellers.
Jackson also said action will eventually need to be taken, and it
may involve ordinances by not only the city but also the county.
For now, Lincoln doesn't have the bug, and ash trees are being
taken out as they pose a hazard in the community like any other
tree, but eventually the emerald ash borer will get here.
Anyone who is concerned about their
ash trees can visit several websites, such as:
They can also contact Jackson at the city street department or
the USDA office in Lincoln.
[By NILA SMITH]
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