McHenry County Blog

In shopping areas on both sides of Crystal Lake’s Route 14 ash trees are dying.

Shows what happens when property owners don’t take preventive action as I am doing with our ash tree in Lakewood.

I know that one other Lakewood resident is using this service.

Every year about this time advertiser Wayne White of Emerald Tree Care comes for the second time to treat the ash that shades our bedroom.

I missed him last year and he sent his daughter to do at least one of the applications of insecticide.

And our tree still looks healthy.

The emerald ash borer had reached the grounds of Mammoth Cave National Park when we visited a year ago.

Our ash tree, on the other hand, you can see below:

I sent my April 23rd storyto Wayne White, the Board Certified Master Arborist who is going to make my ask tree probably the only one left in Crystal Lake’s and Lakewood’s Country Club Additions subdivision to see if I had made any mistakes and he sent me the following email.

From the progress of the leafing on the ask tree over our home, I sense that it about time for him to make his second sweep through Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. He usually makes his second sweep in June, but the season is advanced about a month by my estimate.

If you want to see what he does, this 2008 article has enough photos to show you.

This time he will be injecting the insecticide to keep the Emerald Ash Borers away into the cambium of the tree (the part of the tree that draws nutrients up to the branches), as well as spraying around the tree trunk again.

In any event, here’s what he wrote:

“Awesome story as usual…. one thing I have to compliment you on (you deserve many of course) is that unlike many other newspaper reporters I have run into over the years, you have a knack for getting the details right.

“I enjoy reading your articles as they tell the whole story without any embellishment or mistakes.

“Well done – I knew that if I had time you would have loved a picture of my new truck.

“Actually a 1998 F350 dually but it is completely wrapped in EAB fighting theme.

“For the first time I am so busy I need help and my two daughters are both working for me now.

“Both licensed with Illinois for Pesticide applications.

“My youngest Melinda was involved doing the entire City of West Chicago contract this year. They have renewed my contract for the next 6 years for approx 1800 street tree ash.

“Roselle renewed this year for both the city and the park district (over 600 and 200 respectively).

“I also got back Downers Grove for the third year.

“Roselle is thrilled as they had a third party consultant review the ash trees in the city this year that were treated by me last year and it appears that 99% of them survived even in the face of an exploding insect population last year.

“As the first year is the hardest one to get through when starting treatment – we are well on our way to a huge success story brewing there over the next few years.

“Two weeks after my story about Arlington heights hit google alerts – the city council there voted to reimburse residents $50 per tree (one time only) for treatment of trunk injection ONLY with TreeAge – their favored treatment method.

“Why they would favor one treatment over another when they know nothing about what works is ridiculous but I feel I may have had something to do with their decision as MANY residents read my story about them and were up in arms……. It reminded me instantly of you and your never ending passion for writing on the web.

“It works. If you search ‘emerald ash borer treatment’ on google, yahoo, or bing, I come up on page one of free listings.

“Even my website has grown in importance with google etc.

“The fact you link to it is HUGE as your site is of major importance to google because of your readership.”

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This was not a paid advertisement for the value of advertising on McHenry County Blog, but I do trade Wayne White his company’s ad for keeping it alive.

Got something to trade and want a better Google listing, shoot me an email.

Master Arborist Wayne White was in town today spraying insecticide around the trunk of the ash tree that shades our bedroom.

He was so busy, he wrote on a note I found by my front door, that he didn’t have time to stop and chat as he usually does.

As luck would have it, you can see what he did last May 8th in the photo to the right.

Cities all over the Chicagoland area have just given up on saving their ash trees.

The Chicago Tribune ran an article on what one of the larger suburbs, Arlington Height, is doing to cope with the infestation.

No preventative treatment for Arlington Heights.

No siree.

Instead they are talking about borrowing $11.5 million to remove and replace those ash trees.

13,000 city parkway ash trees.

White was contacted by neighbors disturbed at seeing 177 ash trees marked for removal and drove from Michigan to speak to residents.

White discovered that treatment couldn’t be financed by a bond issue, but could pay for cutting down the trees and planting newer (of course, smaller) ones.

And the village fathers did find $2 million to start the destructive process in 2012.

“The grim reality is that you CAN get huge sums of money by borrowing and mortgaging your city’s future when it is faced with a catastrophic situation,” White wrote in an article on his web site.

“Namely the safety of the community when the dying and dead ash trees threaten life and property because they are very dangerous when they die and left standing.”

Unlike Arlington Heights, Naperville is treating parkway trees that can be saved, according to the recently issued “Naperville Connected” newsletter.

“In order to prevent the further spread of the emerald ash borer a containment strategy has been developed which consists of removing parkway ash trees that cannot be saved and treating the remaining parkway ash trees citywide.

“The treatment of the healthy parkway ash trees will begin in April and continue until July.”

White will return to the area in early June (maybe late May with this year’s early spring) to inject insecticide into the ground and the cambium of the tree trunk.

If you live in an area threatened by this tree-killing insect, you might want to give Wayne White a call…before you face the problem Arlington Heights residents met when they saw their trees marked for destruction.

You can see here what White has been able to do to save ash trees on airport property near Detroit compared to what happened across the street in a residential neighborhood where there was no preventative action taken.

More detailed information, complete with pictures, about what White does to treat an ash tree in late May or June in normal years can be seen in this article.

Last night I wrote that I hadn’t seen Wayne White, the Master Arborist who has been treating my ash tree for the Emerald Ash Borer since 2008.

He’s usually in Crystal Lake at the end of the first week of June, but with the late spring he hasn’t come yet.

I called him at 877-SAVE-ASH (877-728-274) to make sure he hadn’t already been in McHenry County and about the front page Chicago Tribune article.

White told me he was in Northern Illinois and that he’d be here in the next two weeks.

I told him the Tribune story was so, so pessimistic.

Tree-killing pest eludes rising battle to squash it

That’s the headline.

The subhead?

Even newest weapon,
parasitic wasps, could
lose its sting as beetle
munches across cities

White is passionate about saving ash trees.  I liken his emotional involvement to Johnny Appleseed of the early 1800′s.

He treated some trees in St. Charles this year.  As he drove to his clients, dead ash trees lined the street.  His were green.

That’s what northern Illinois will look like soon, he explained.

The Tribune article focuses on Oobius wasps imported from China stopping the ash borer invasion.  Three hundred were released in Chicago and Evanston last year.

Evanston arborist Paul D’Agostino tells the Tribune, “We have not seen any results.  We can’t stop it.”

Such pessimism.

So, an experimental approach isn’t working.

But a proven method is.

And it’s cost-beneficial.

The Daily Herald has written about that aspect.  Just last week.

635 ash trees will be treated at a cost of $27,000 this year.  Piggy-backing on the village contract with White’s Emerald TreeCare, LLC, is the Roselle Park District.  That’s an additional 220 or so trees.

Figure out the cost per year.

$42.50 is what I get.

White tells me it will take 5-7 years for all the untreated trees to die.

So, let me apply the cost-benefit analysis that I learned while a baby Budget Examiner at the United States Bureau of the Budget.

About $300 a tree under the contract cut by Roselle with White.  He tells me he is treating trees on private property in Roselle for the same price.  (The pricing is based on size of the tree.)

Removal cost is estimated to be about $1,000 per tree.  More to replace the dead ash with a much smaller tree.

$300 for treatment versus over $1,000 for the chainsaw and replacement approach.

One does not need a master’s degree in public administration to figure out which approach makes sense.

Roselle officials consider the ash trees part of the village’s infrastructure.   And, I would assume they think more shade is better than less shade.  More oxygen-producing leaves preferable to fewer.

In Carol Stream, village officials are cutting down dead and dying ash trees and replacing them.  Crystal Lake’s St. Aubin Nursery on Route 176 is supplying 2,000 replacement trees.

Carol Stream plans to spend $2.25 million on the effort.

Elmhurst is chopping down ash trees that are not even infected.

Go figure.  One would think a town named after the last tree species to pretty much disappear might have a different approach.

And, strangely, Elmhurst officials think the ash trees can be replaced over a 20-year period.  In seven or so years, they will all be dead, so the village board thinks people will allow dead trees all over town for thirteen years.

Yeah. Right.

The Tribune article reports that the infestation has spread to Deerfield, Gurnee, Hinsdale, Joliet, Lake Zurich, Rolling Meadows and “at least 16 other communities.”

Will they follow the example of Roselle or Carol Stream?

Downers Grove is another town using White’s treatment.

But these villages, the ones that have chosen the treatment approach over the knee-jerk chainsaw massacre approach, are not mentioned in the Tribune article.

Other municipalities mentioned in the article were Highland Park, Oak Park, Orland Park and Schaumburg.

Spring was late this year and so was Wayne White, arch foe of the Emerald Ash Borer.

White drives his truck from Michigan to treat trees in Illinois and Wisconsin. He comes with the message that ash trees will die if they are not treated.

White has treated about 11,000 ash trees and lost less than twenty.

Pretty good success rate, I’d say, even if he were not an advertiser.

He usually comes through town the fist week of June.

He sprays around the ash tree again, plus inserts the insecticide into the cambium layer of the tree.

I haven’t seen him so far, so you might still be able to get him to stop by your home and treat your ash tree.  His phone number is 1-877-SAVE ASH or 728-3274.

My guess is that it will cost you as much to cut a dead ash tree down as it will cost to save it.

And, it will take a long time for a replacement tree to grow large enough to provide shade.

White was off to treat Julie Richardson’s ash and then to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, where he has the city contract to treat all its ash trees.

Algonquin has apparently made it decision to do nothing to try to save the 4,400 ash trees found on public property.

The village’s most recent reaction to the Emerald Ash Borer, according to the First Electric Newspaper, is to buy “a new heavy duty stump grinder.”

As McHenry County Blog has been reporting for years, there is a way to save ash trees.

Wayne White, one of our advertisers, has proven that his method works. He should be in the area soon, so if you have an ash tree that your want to save, give him a call.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin sent out a press release about a month ago listing Illinois cities “infested by (the) Emerald Ash Borer” that would get $10,000 to a couple of tens of thousands of dollars.

I’ve finally read his press release and he talks about how the average cost of removal of a dead ash tree is $500 and a couple of more to replace it.

$1 million in all to Illinois communities. The municipalities getting the grants are listed at the bottom. To make the grants look larger than they really are each grant has a decimal point with two zeros after it.

Not a word is mentioned about trying to save the ash trees.

That’s what the Johnny Appleseed of ash preservation,  McHenry County Blog advertiser Wayne White has been doing for the better part of a decade.

And he has demonstrated success.  (Email: SaveTheAsh@aol.com)

He usually swings through Northern Illinois in early June.

Want to see what he does?

Look here.

Chop them down and plant other trees is the approach of so-called “environmentalist’ Durbin.

Here’s the press release:

Durbin Announces Federal Funding for Communities Infested by Emerald Ash Borer

Monday, February 21, 2011

[CHICAGO, IL] – Municipalities across Chicagoland will receive much needed federal assistance to manage and recover from the emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today.

More than $1 million in federal funding is being distributed to fifty-eight communities in Illinois through a competitive grant program spearheaded by the Morton Arboretum and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC). The funding was made available through the US Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and a Durbin-authored provision in the 2008 Farm Bill.

“Around 20 percent of the trees in Chicago are ash trees, and as the infestation rapidly spreads, communities across the region are struggling with the costs associated with combating this destructive beetle.

“Many communities have tens of thousands of ash trees at risk.

“At an average cost of $500 per tree removal and a couple of hundred dollars more to replant a tree, an EAB infestation can have a serious economic impact on our communities.

“The federal funding distributed today will help alleviate the financial burden of removing infested trees and planting new ones for fifty-eight communities in the Chicagoland area. This has been a collaborative effort, and I am grateful for the work of The Morton Arboretum and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus,” Durbin said.

“This funding will not only address immediate local needs for coping with EAB, but will facilitate more comprehensive urban forest protection and growth to help maintain a robust canopy of trees for the long term. This is important to preserve the region’s economic well being and help communities flourish,” Edith Makra, Arboretum Community Trees Advocate, said.

“The Emerald Ash Borer infestation crosses multiple city boundaries, meaning solutions should be addressed on a regional basis.

“This funding is crucial to preserving the quality of life in our region by helping local governments replace infested trees and restore diminished tree canopy. We are grateful to Senator Durbin and the Illinois congressional delegation for their assistance in securing funds for the Chicago region and the State,” Larry Hartwig, Mayor of Addison and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Executive Board Chair, said.

The competitive grant program was designed to strengthen each community’s ability to build a sustained urban forest canopy.

With the assistance of the Arboretum’s expertise, municipalities will now be able to acquire trees to replace those threatened or destroyed by EAB, plant the trees using best practices, and bolster existing community tree care programs or help governments roll out such programs. Grant recipients are required to prepare and submit local EAB management plans verified by certified arborists.

The newly-planted trees will provide environmental benefits such as clean air and water, reduced storm water runoff and erosion, and reduced energy demand as trees mitigate the heat-island effect. The tree planting will also have economic benefits, and will help promote Illinois’ nursery industry through the sale of replacement trees.

Communities received funding for reforestation and technical assistance through the 2008 Farm Bill and for targeted geographical reforestation through GLRI. In particular, the Farm Bill funded tree inventories and comprehensive management plans to help communities manage the immediate impacts of EAB and analyze their urban forests for future vulnerabilities. More than 150 grant applications were reviewed by a team of experts including representatives from the Morton Arboretum, Openlands, USDA APHIS, Lake County Forest Preserve, the City of Chicago, Illinois Department of Agriculture Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Citizen Advocacy Center, and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.

Communities receiving grants have committed local matches totaling more than $2.4 million.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, EAB threatens an estimated eight billion ash trees in the United States, including 130 million in Illinois. Durbin has been actively involved in efforts to secure emergency assistance for dealing with EAB since it was first discovered in Illinois in June 2006. Since then, Durbin has helped secure more than $10 million in federal funding for EAB management in Illinois.

The Emerald Ash Borer, which has been confirmed in 16 counties including Boone, Bureau, Champaign, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Iroquois, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry, McLean, Will and Winnebago, is a bright green beetle that kills trees by burrowing into their bark and destroying the trees’ ability to bring water from the roots to upper branches. Infected trees usually begin to die within two to three years. State officials have quarantined all or parts of 25 Illinois counties due to EAB infestation.

Illinois Urban Forest Restoration Grants:

Algonquin: $20,000.00; Arlington Heights: $20,700.00; Aurora: $40,000.00; Bloomington: $16,190.00; Buffalo Grove: $20,000.00; Chicago Park District: $40,000.00; Cook County Forest Preserve: $16,222.00; Deerfield: $9,670.00; Des Plaines: $30,000.00; Downers Grove: $20,000.00; Elburn: $10,000.00; Elmhurst: $16,000.00; Evanston: $30,000.00; Evergreen Park: $10,000.00; Glencoe: $10,000.00; Glen Ellyn: $20,000.00; Glendale Heights: $19,880.00; Glenview: $20,000.00; Hoffman Estates: $29,926.00; Homewood: $10,000.00; Itasca: $10,000.00; La Grange: $10,000.00; La Grange Park: $10,000.00; Lake in the Hills: $20,000.00; Lincolnwood: $9,840.00; Lisle: $10,000.00; Matteson: $10,000.00; McHenry: $7,420.00; Midlothian: $7,500.00; Montgomery: $10,000.00; Mount Prospect: $30,000.00; Naperville: $40,000.00; Naperville Park District: $29,150.00; Northbrook: $20,000.00; Northbrook Park District: $20,000.00; Northfield: $14,000.00; Oak Lawn: $30,000.00; Oak Park: $30,000.00; Palatine: $7,020.00; Park Forest: $10,000.00; Park Ridge: $20,000.00; Riverside: $10,000.00; Streamwood: $19,860.00; Sugar Grove: $9,850.50; Wilmette: $20,000.00; Winnetka: $10,000.00

Illinois Technical Assistance Grants:

Barrington: $20,000.00; Franklin Park: $6,000.00; Glenview Park District: $20,000.00; Hinsdale: $20,000.00; Roselle: $20,000.00; Round Lake: $8,000.00; Shorewood: $20,000.00; Skokie: $6,800.00; South Elgin: $10,000.00; Wauconda: $16,000.00; Westmont: $20,000.00; Wheeling: $4,200.00

It seems strange to me, but the official announcement of the emerald ash borer’s having invaded McHenry County has come from the Village of Algonquin.

The daisy chain starts with folks who send the collected insect specimen to Brighton, Michigan. There an expert figures out whether the buy is the emerald ash borer or not.

Over a week ago the first insect was sent, after Stan Gladbach noticed his ash trees were dying on the street that divides Kane from McHenry Couunty.

But it had been decapitated, so another specimen was requested.

That was collected Friday.

It was sent overnight FedEX to Brighton.

I would guess that positive identification was passed on to the Illinois Agriculture Department Monday (yesterday).

Today (Tuesday), the Village of Algonquin issued the following press release:

Emerald Ash Borer
Detected in Village

ALGONQUIN, IL – The United States Department of Agriculture, along with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, has announced the detection of Emerald Ash Borer in the Village of Algonquin, east of the Fox River, near Souwanis Trail and Oceola Drive.

Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive beetle that destroys ash trees, and it has been detected for the first time in Algonquin. The Illinois Department of Agriculture has previously enacted quarantines on the movement of ash tree debris within many Illinois counties, including Kane and McHenry Counties.

Now that the Emerald Ash Borer has been confirmed within our borders, the Village will work with the Illinois Department of Agriculture to activate our response plan and begin the task of managing it.

The Village has already conducted an extensive survey of ash trees in the area to determine the extent of potential damage, and has historically worked to plant alternative tree species so the impact of ash tree loss might be minimized. This highly destructive pest is eliminating the ash species as a viable tree for our area. The Village will work to monitor the progression of the infestation, manage public ash populations, and educate residents as to their management options as it pertains to their privately owned ash stock.

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic-green beetle native to Asia. Its larvae burrow into the bark of ash trees and feed upon its vascular tissue, 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 are dead or dying.

Background Information on Emerald Ash Borer

The emerald ash borer is a newer invasive pest of ash trees.

Much like its predecessor the Asian Long-Horned Beetle, it was likely introduced to this country through wood shipping material.

It has proven to be nearly impossible to stop, resulting in the death of millions of ash trees in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Its current infestation in the State of Illinois is, therefore, very concerning.

The borer thrives on ash species only. The larvae feed on the trees’ vascular systems, causing the trees to starve to death. At this point, most control methods are not very successful and large scale eradication is deemed impossible.

This means that communities, including Algonquin, will be losing their ash tree populations within the next few years. Much like Dutch elm disease eliminated elm species from being a viable tree in our community, most likely the ash tree will become obsolete as well.

The lead agency creating policy relative to this pest is the Illinois Department of Agriculture, whose primary efforts are targeted at slowing the spread. Unlike other communities that are choosing to remove and eliminate perfectly healthy ash trees from their midst, the Village will systematically remove ash trees located on public property only by special request, or as they fail; as this happens, we will work diligently to replace them with alternate tree species as quickly as fiscally possible.

The Village has taken steps over the last ten years to provide species diversity so that instances such as this do not dramatically affect our tree populations.

Unfortunately, back when the elm trees started failing, developers started installing mostly ash trees. Therefore, some of our neighborhoods host large populations of ash trees and will see some very dramatic changes.

In an effort to stem some of the impact, the Village has identified areas of dense ash populations and has worked to plant new trees in currently available planting sites in these areas. Hopefully, this will help us get a jump on some of our pending losses.

Please visit www.emeraldashborer.info or www.agr.state.il.us/eab in order to become familiar with this pest and to help us keep a look out for additional emerald ash borers.

Please note that the most problematic spreading of the pest comes from the movement of failed ash tree debris, firewood, or nursery stock from a quarantined area (Kane and McHenry Counties have been under quarantine for quite some time).

We ask that you please work to prevent the spread of this pest. Additionally, because of the potential destruction of ash trees by this new invasive species, the price of ash trees has come down dramatically. It is our recommendation that you do not buy ash trees as you will most likely lose them before they reach maturity.

If you already own an ash tree, there are chemicals and companies that will make a valiant effort to preserve and protect your trees. Some of the treatments have proven promising, but there are no guarantees, especially when ash populations become low and the pest becomes desperate. These treatments are costly and must be used as indicated, without fail, for the life of the tree. Even so, there is still no promise that the species will survive.

The Village will continue to monitor the presence of the emerald ash borer very closely, and appreciates cooperation from residents in addressing the situation. If any additional information on our infestation becomes available, it will be posted on www.algonquin.org.

For information about this press release, please contact Steve Ludwig, Parks and Forestry Superintendent, at (847) 658-2754.

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All images can be enlarged. Obviously, the map will be updated to contain a new red dot in Algonquin.