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Township officials map ash trees with GPS
About 3,000 trees will be cut down in the next 10 years to prevent spread of emerald ash borers.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
> What do you think should be done to stop the emerald ash borer?
CLEARCREEK TWP., Warren County — It took this township's parks operations manager almost six months to inventory the 3,000 ash trees in township parks and rights of way with a GPS unit.
But using these coordinates, township workers and contractors now know where to go to cut down the trees as part of a national effort to prevent the spread of the emerald ash borer.
Extras
The township's 10-year plan, approved Thursday, is one of the latest in Ohio in response to finding the destructive emerald-green insects in trees, prompting quarantines in 29 of 88 Ohio counties, as well as Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Maryland.
Although it takes up to five years for the trees to die, few survive infestation. Concerned about liability from trees falling, Clearcreek parks manager Tony Hale also recorded the trees' diameters and where they are likely to fall, to help decide which trees to axe first.
"It was an enormous task for us," Township Administrator Dennis Pickett said, one that may yet be undone. "We may still have a few sites out there we need to spend some more time on."
Before putting a dollar figure on the plan, Clearcreek plans to see how many trees it can cut down with staff and $30,000 for contractors.
On Monday, state officials were unsure how many communities have local plans in place, part of Ohio's response to the spread of the bug, first found in the U.S. in 2002, Ohio in 2003.
While the search for effective pesticides or other solutions goes on, surveyors are combing Ohio's 59 counties not under quarantine. And this fall about 10,000 "detector trees," weakened to encourage the borer, will be searched for signs of its serpentine borings.
However, there are no plans to take Clearcreek's cut-down strategy statewide, where an estimated 5 billion ashes stand.
"It's just not a feasible option," said Melissa Brewer, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or
lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Comments
By Frank
July 5, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this
I have a whole yard full of Ash trees. Cutting them down is an impossible, and unneccesary expense. If I have an infection on my hand, the doctor that recommended cutting off my leg to prevent the spread would be a quack. Once the quarentine was broken - no amount of cutting by public or private will prevent the spread. Prosecute the irresponsible jerk that transports Ash wood - and let nature take its course. There may be treatment developed in the near future to save the remaining trees.
By Mike Mueller
June 26, 2007 4:40 PM | Link to this
The EAB is an insect not native to the US. In it’s native home the local trees have not been wiped out by it. Trees can produce chemicals that discourage insect attack. The insect predators that exist in it’s native land my contribute greatly to keeping the EAB in check. We need to look at all means possibile (IPM)this would include (plant,insect,chemical and tree removal). But let’s not forget we need to control movement of goods that would transport the EAB.(Not just firewood)!
By Ann
June 26, 2007 2:39 PM | Link to this
There is an ash tree seed collection project underway. Seeds will be sent to a central collection agency (Colorado, I think) and will be inventoried. There they will be stored for future use. Local Ag offices should have information. Maybe DDN could do a follow-up story on this. Sorry I don’t remember where I read about this last fall.
By Ann
June 26, 2007 2:38 PM | Link to this
There is an ash tree seed collection project underway. Seeds will be sent to a central collection agency (Colorado, I think) and will be inventoried. There they will be stored for future use. Local Ag offices should have information. Maybe DDN could do a follow-up story on this. Sorry I don’t remember where I read about this last fall.
By Joan
June 26, 2007 1:13 PM | Link to this
The EAB is not a disease, it’s an insect. The ash trees will not be developing any resistance to anything that wants to eat it any time soon. With the lack of a chemical inhibitor to do the job, cutting off the EAB’s food supply is the only way to control the spread. Until someone comes up with a way to target these creatures for extermination, our ash trees will have to go.
By Mike Mueller
June 26, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this
The EAB would never have traveled this distance so rapidly on it’s own (naturally). That being the case, evolution would never compensate fast enough as you contend. Mankind is responsible we need to at least try to slow the spread until the native trees, insects etc. can adapt to this new speceices. Perhaps some trees in the heavily infested areas have developed resistance, then those could be cultivated, propagated and distributed to newly infected areas to help control the spread of the EAB.
By James Humphrey, Jr.
June 26, 2007 10:33 AM | Link to this
Cutting down trees is probably the most ignorant attempt at a solution. It’s nothing more than a chance to make some cash instead of allowing nature to run its course through evolution and allowing the trees to adapt. The trees which survive the attack will be the ones genetically superior to those which are prone to the EAB infestation. Culling the population of the trees removes all possibility to allow a natural solution to occur for the plant population.