City of Jamestown planning ahead for emerald ash borer
Jul. 1—JAMESTOWN — The city of Jamestown is taking steps to proactively plan for the emerald ash borer (EAB), said City Forester Erik Laber. He said it's only a matter of time before it is found in Jamestown.
"We've had talks with (Jamestown) Parks and Rec and I've called out to the county and we've all kind of been talking about it about what we can do to prevent some of the issues and get ahead of it," he said.
Emerald ash borer is a beetle from Asia that attacks all ash trees but mostly green ash, Laber said. The emerald ash borer attacks healthy trees whereas several native ash borers only attack trees that are already in decline, he said.
"The emerald ash borer will generally start in the fresher foliage like at the top of the tree or outside of the tree and work their way down," Laber said.
It feeds on the phloem under the bark which carries the nutrients in the tree, effectively girdling it, Laber said. It often moves with firewood or pallets.
"... So .. it could be here next year, for all we know," Laber said. "Usually what they've found is a city will have it for five years before they detect it because it does start up in the upper canopy and the signs are kind of hard to notice for people until it really starts showing up."
Emerald ash borer was first detected in the U.S. in 2002, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
website
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has been confirmed in 36 states and the District of Columbia and has destroyed millions of ash trees in North America, USDA says.
Emerald ash borer has been found in this region, Laber noted. In February, it was detected in Moorhead, Minnesota, according to the NDSU Extension Service. It's also been found in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Winnipeg, Canada. Laber expects emerald ash borer to be in Jamestown within 10 years and says now is a good time for residents to start planning for that.
Jamestown took inventory of trees in city parks and boulevards between 2013-2016, Laber said. Those efforts continue when seasonal staffing is available, most recently last year when all city boulevards and city parks with the exception of McElroy Park and Hillcrest Golf Course were inventoried. Some work was also done in the county, giving Laber a better picture of the whole area, he said.
On Jamestown city public properties, there are at least 9,776 trees, Laber said. Of those trees, 36% (3,519) are green ash. Laber estimates there are also 20,000 to 30,000 trees on private property in Jamestown with about a third of those trees being green ash as well.
Among the steps the city is taking to combat EAB is not allowing green ash trees to be planted on boulevards when people apply for planting permits, Laber said. On city property, green ash trees in decline and smaller green ash trees are being removed so other species can be planted. They are also planting new trees near existing ash trees so the new trees are established by the time the green ash will need to be removed, he said.
Mulching trees is another priority when staffing is available to do the work.
"With how short labor is it's really hard to do the things we're planning on doing but the more we start mulching all these trees in the parks especially the more that will help keep them happy," he said. "The mulch moderates the soil moisture and temperature so it keeps the tree more healthy. ... "
Once emerald ash borer gets closer, they will be injecting chemicals into "high-value trees" that they want to keep, he said.
Laber encourages people to keep an eye on green ash trees on their property. Signs to look for include canopy decline or dieback. Twigs will start dying and another sign is a lack of leaves moving from the outside toward the center, he said.
Laber said when people have a tree in decline, whether green ash or something else, they may want to consider planting something else.
"If it's a small tree where they're not going to lose much shade or wind protection or whatever they have it planted for, versus getting a new tree of some size versus waiting another 10 years and letting that tree get 10 years bigger and then having to still go back and plant a new tree," he said.
Laber noted that recent years of drought have been hard on trees and says it's important to keep those green ash trees watered and healthy.
"Keep the dead pruned out, any broken branches, anything to help keep that tree healthier to fight off the attacks," he said.
Injecting ash trees with a chemical to fight the emerald ash borer is not recommended until it is confirmed within 30 miles, Laber said.
" ... Carrington, Valley City, Edgeley and Medina would probably be the first places that would be an indicator for us," he said. "If they notice it first."
The chemical, a systemic insecticide, kills most of the larvae as it's feeding under the bark, Laber said, and will kill some of the adults as they feed on leaves. That can help the tree's phloem recover, he said.
"If it's confirmed in Jamestown, it's definitely a good idea to start injecting," he said. "It does have some curative abilities so if your tree is infected up to a certain percentage, it'll kill enough of them that the tree can come back from that. You may have to do some pruning of dead wood or whatever if there are certain branches that were completely killed."
Laber said people will be hiring a professional to do the injection work, which can get expensive.
"But you also have to take into account how much money does it take to get a 50- or 100-year-old ash tree worth of shade again," he said. "Some people are at a point in their life where they don't feel like they can wait for another tree to get that big again to provide that shade or aesthetics or whatever they enjoy it for. So saving it can be cheaper than replacing it even though that may be a large amount of money. The price (for injection) is usually based off of inches in diameter so it'll be a price per inch in diameter is usually what it is."
He said people who want to keep their ash trees will eventually have to start treating them or they may want to start planting new trees so they have some shade by the time the emerald ash borer arrives. He noted that green ash trees can grow 50 to 70 feet tall with a spread of 35 to 50 feet.
He said people may want to get quotes now from an arborist so they know what sort of cost it would be to treat a tree or if they are OK with losing the tree and begin saving up for the cost to remove it.
"It'll be a large investment either way," he said.
He said like elms infected with Dutch elm disease, property owners would be responsible for the removal of trees infected with emerald ash borer that must be removed.
Laber encourages people to diversify their tree plantings and take the health of their trees seriously. That includes watering trees, including large ones, when it's dry. Keep string trimmers and lawnmowers away from the trunk. Mulch and fertilize.
The city of Jamestown has a number of resources regarding trees, the emerald ash borer, licensed arborists and other information on its website. Information can be found by going to jamestownnd.gov, choosing Departments and then clicking on Forestry.
Laber also has an emerald ash borer identification guide that is the size of a business card at his office in City Hall that people can take for their own use. It provides resources and identifies pictures/signs of the emerald ash borer.
The two primary ordinances related to trees in the city — Nos.
1505
and
1453
— can be found on the website under the Government tab and municipal code.
Other helpful links on emerald ash borer:
* USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service:
* NDSU Extension:
* North Dakota Department of Agriculture: