Northfield Village President: Emerald Ash Borers Are Eating Ash Trees in Northfield!

Dear Neighbor,
If you have an ash tree on your property, it is in peril of being destroyed by an Emerald Ash Borer and should be treated or removed promptly.

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is a bright green beetle that is smaller in size and fits on a penny. It was first identified in 2002 in southeast Michigan after having been imported there from Asia in ship pallets or wooden crates. At last estimate, the EAB has killed over 40 million ash trees in 15 states, including Illinois. In June 2009, the EAB was identified on a dying ash tree in Northfield. The EAB spreads exponentially. Over the spring, summer and fall of 2010, Village of Northfield staff saw an increase of from 4 to 40 EAB locations.
The EAB devastates ash trees by laying eggs on an ash tree’s trunk and branches in the summer. The larvae then emerge and bore into the tree, cutting off its flow of water and nutrients. This infestation kills ash trees over a two to four year time period. Signs that an ash tree has been infested by the EAB include crown dieback, sprouting at the base of the tree, D-shaped emergence holes, and S- shaped tunnels under the bark. The presence of woodpeckers on an ash tree is another sign that the tree is infested since woodpeckers feed on EAB larvae located under ash tree bark.

Privately Owned Ash Trees
Ash trees located on private property are the homeowner’s responsibility and will not be remedied by the Village of Northfield. However, if you need help identifying your tree or its symptoms, contact Village staff at 847-784-3555 or email Village Planner and Landscape Architect Linnea O’Neill at loneill@northfieldil.org.
It is possible to treat uninfested ash trees and some minimally infested ash trees with certain insecticide solutions. The sooner this process is started, the more effective it is likely to be. Please note that homeowner applied insecticides pose environmental risks including toxicity to aquatic life and leaching into groundwater. Run-off and drift can pose threats to children, pets, flowering plants and bees. It is, therefore, extremely important that caution and exacting application of insecticide treatments be used in treating ash trees. For best results, homeowners should opt for professional treatment of ash trees, especially large and/or specimen ash trees. In many cases, these treatments can be effective but they are costly and must be repeated at least yearly for the life of the tree. Homeowners should get bids from licensed and certified professionals.

A property owner may otherwise decide to have an ash tree removed in order to avoid the hazard of a decaying and possibly falling tree. It is important to know that most of northeastern Illinois, including Northfield, is under an EAB quarantine. This means that only authorized tree companies may remove wood from diseased ash trees. It is otherwise prohibited to move diseased or infested ash. Any tree company or arborist working on ash trees or hauling ash tree debris is required to sign an Illinois Department of Agriculture Letter of Compliance. This ensures that the tree company knows the correct way to dispose of ash wood. Approved tree companies are listed at www.illinoiseab.com.

Publicly Situated Ash Trees
To date, the Village of Northfield has identified 421 ash trees on its public parkways alone. The Village will not treat public ash trees because the process is costly and must be repeated for the life of the tree. Over the next year, 60 publicly situated ash trees will be removed due to EAB infestation. These trees will be replaced with native trees such as hackberry, oak, elm and ginkgo trees. The Village has received a $14,000 grant from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to help with replacement tree costs and will apply for other grants. In addition, we have appropriated an additional $56,000 for a total of $70,000 in next year’s budget to remove and replace infested ash trees.
If you have questions concerning the EAB infestation, please go to the Village of Northfield website, www.northfieldil.org and click on the box marked “Emerald Ash Borer,” or contact Linnea O’Neill at loneill@northfieldil.org. For further updates on the EAB infestation, please leave your email address with Linnea O’Neill at the aforesaid email address.