Hundreds Of Nassau Trees To Be Removed Due To Invasive Beetle Species

GARDEN CITY, NY — Garden City is known for being a place where the blocks are lined with tall, stately trees. On sunny days, you can walk or drive through the dappled shade and enjoy the peaceful scenery. But in some areas of the village, that is going to change.

Due to an infestation of an invasive species of beetle, the Village of Garden City will be removing hundreds of ash trees from streets around the village, changing the look that many residents have grown accustomed to.

Village trees are suffering from an invasion of the emerald ash boring beetle – a small Asian beetle that burrows into the trees. It lays its eggs under the bark, and the larval beetles damage the tree, eventually killing it.

There is no effective pesticide that can remove emerald ash borers — the best way to prevent their spread is to cut down the infected trees.

“We're going to remove all the ash trees that are invested with the beetle, and right now that's the majority of the trees,” said Paul Blake, chairman of Board of Commissioners of Cultural and Recreational Affairs for the village. “Once they get into the tree, it's over.”

Ash trees are common around the village. You can identify them by the distinctive diamond-shaped patterns in the tree’s rough bark. They grow tall, and are popularly planted curbside in many areas. The village is currently looking to remove trees on Washington Avenue, Nassau Boulevard, Franklin Avenue, Clinton Road, Main Avenue and Meadow Street.

Originally, Blake thought the village would have to chop down 200 to 500 trees. After examining trees and seeing the extent of the infestation, that number may now be closer to 1,000.

By chopping down trees infected with the beetle, Blake hopes the village will be able to save the healthy trees. According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, emerald ash borers typically only move about a half mile from where they're born. So removing infected trees can stop the spread of the insect.

John Wernet, the regional forester for the conservation department on Long Island, said that emerald ash borers were first found in New York in 2009. Since then, they’ve spread to nearly every county in the state, with only a few regions in the Adirondacks being spared.

“Upstate, ash trees are much more prominent than on Long Island,” Wernet said. “The issue we have on Long Island is that ash was planted as street trees.”

An Invasive Problem

Emerald ash borers in America have been directly traced to wood transported from overseas. Transporting firewood is the main way they have spread around the country. People chop down infected trees in one area and then move them many miles to sell as firewood.

Because of that, New York has protections in place. All firewood sold in stores has to be heat-treated to remove any pests and infections. And there are prohibitions against residents transporting firewood more than 50 miles.

Emerald ash borers are small — full-grown adults are about half an inch long, smaller than a penny. They have an emerald-colored back, which gives them their name.

The bugs leave distinctive D-shaped holes in bark after burrowing out of a tree. Larvae can cause the bark of an infected tree to fall off, exposing curved grooves they left behind. An infestation of the insects weakens the tree, making it more susceptible to falling and causing damage.

“Once you see your tree starting to decline, it's unfortunately too late,” said Wernet. “It means the beetle has already attacked and is starting to kill the tree.”

A New Streetscape

The majority of the trees the village will be removing are located curbside, and there are also some on other village properties that will have to go. Blake said it could take one or two years to remove all the trees. While village crews can take down smaller trees, the village needs to contract out for the removal of large ones.

And due to the nature of the work, residents may not be notified when trees in front of their homes are being taken down. The contractor will have a route, and will take down trees as fast as they can.

“It's hard for us to contact residents when we're taking down 150 to 200 trees,” said Blake. “We're a small department, and it's just not practical.”

Contractors will not only be removing the trees, but also grinding down the stumps, removing debris, and placing soil and grass seed where the tree was.

When the village does the work, it will also remove the trees and returning the ground to normal. Due to the insect infestation, the village won’t be able to use the wood for anything. The trees will be chipped, and the wood buried to prevent the spreading of the beetles.

Additionally, Blake said that the village will plant new trees. For every tree the village chops down, it will plant two. Those new ones, however, will be much smaller than the trees they’re replacing.

The village will only be taking down trees on its property. Residents with ash trees on their own property will have to remove or treat the trees. There are products on the market that claim to remove the emerald ash borer, but they are expensive. Conservation officials said their effectiveness hasn’t been proven.

Wernet said there are possible treatments that could prevent the beetles from infecting a tree in the first place. There are injections that arborists can do that essentially provide a barrier to stop the beetles from getting into the tree.

“It's important to know what kind of trees residents have on their properties,” Wernet said. “There are some treatments that licensed arborists can do to protect your trees.”

But residents will be responsible for removing any infected trees that are on their property. There are state programs available to help the cost of replanting trees, but they are only for people who own at least 10 acres of land. The village is also having a meeting on the evening of Sept. 21 to discuss how to preserve trees.

When replanting, Wernet recommends planting different species of native trees. Diversity helps to protect the ecosystem, as well as the character of the neighborhood.

“We recommend not to have all of one tree species,” he said. “Like this, when there's something that targets one tree, it can wipe out all the trees.”