Mendham Calls On State Amid 'Explosive' Ash Tree Disease Progression

MENDHAM, NJ — Ash trees are continuing to die at increased rates in Mendham Township, officials have stated.

In two separate measures, the township has recently made an effort to address concerns over public safety and the increase in dying trees.

This month, the Mendham Township Committee passed an ordinance that would allow for $150,000 to be allocated for the removal of dangerous and infected trees.

The ordinance authorizes the township to use money from the Open Space Trust Fund to cut, remove, or otherwise make safe parts of open space and recreation areas traversed by trails and hiking paths open to the public.

The town's use of Open Space Trust Fund funds will be limited to six months under the ordinance. Officials indicated that the cash might also be used to educate the public and send warnings about dangerous or remote areas where tree removal is impractical.

According to the municipality, the rule was necessary because the cost of managing and perhaps removing hundreds of ash trees exceeded the limits of the local budget.

During the Nov. 27 committee meeting, the township also passed a resolution requesting funding from the state of New Jersey and the federal government to assist municipalities in dealing with the extraordinary and unexpected cost of removing, destroying, and quarantining infected Ash trees and replacing the lost tree canopy.

"Each municipality has incurred substantial costs to remove, destroy and quarantine (to avoid the spread of the EAB) these hazard trees; and each municipality should be replacing the lost tree canopy with a different species of trees as soon as possible to maintain the ecosystem," the resolution read.

According to the Mendham Township Tree Protection Committee, activity from the emerald ash borer beetle is continuing to kill ash trees in Mendham.

This invasive species kills ash trees by tunneling through the bark, disrupting the tree's vascular system, and preventing nutrients from reaching the leaves.

The ash trees killed by the emerald ash borer across the township may not only be a nuisance, but the trees that remain may be harmful, according to tree care professionals.

Infested ash trees can quickly deteriorate and become dangerous, with limbs falling on your personal property, your neighbor's personal property, sidewalks and roadways.

The ash tree now accounts for approximately 10 percent of the tree canopy in Mendham Township, and the disease is expected to wipe off all of those trees over time as the disease spreads.

This summer, Brian Hays, a representative of the Mendham Township Tree Protection Committee, told the mayor and committee members that the township's infection rate has been steadily increasing over the years.

"Each year since the beginning of this problem, I would describe the increase from year to year as arithmetic. But from last fall until this spring, I would describe it as geometric; it's been explosive. There's a progression: the dieback of some leaves, the loss of all the leaves, the dropping of the little branch ends, the dropping of large limbs and eventually the collapse of the entire tree," Hays said.

Hays warned against increased activity from the emerald ash borer beetle and asked residents to check their trees for this destructive infestation.

The tree protection committee is counting on the township and the county to cut down all infected ash trees in the township to stop the spread of the disease.

"If the county won't take these trees down, I think we have to consider doing it," Hays said.