Invasive species discovered in Waupaca
By Angie Landsverk
Ash trees on city of Waupaca public terraces and in its parks are being removed as part of the city’s revised Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan.
The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive species that devastates ash tree populations.
Last December, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirmed the insect was found in several trees within the city.
“We identified 90 within our roadways and 45 in our parks,” Director of Public Works Justin Berrens told the common council last month.
The council voted unanimously to revise the management plan that was originally approved in 2015.
All council members were present for the vote on the revision.
Berrens said EAB was in the southern part of the state when the council approved the original plan and policy.
“It slowly crept its way north,” he told the council.
The DNR’s confirmation of EAB being founded in ash trees in the city followed other EAB infestations in Waupaca County.
Its presence in the city was revealed by regular surveillance and monitoring by city staff.
The wood boring beetle kills ash trees by feeding on the inner bark and starving the tree.
In addition to the 144 managed ash trees in the city, there are also large components of ash trees in the natural areas owned by the city.
Last year, the city updated its street inventory and put it on GIS.
City to remove more than 900 trees
In all, 991 street trees were updated, with all ash trees designated for removal.
Berrens said the city is going to try treating and saving some of the nicer ash trees in the parks that look healthy and would be missed.
Russ Montgomery, the city’s facilities superintendent and forester, found a cost effective way to treat the trees.
Berrens said the city expects to spend less than $500 per year to save roughly 20 trees.
While the terrace is public property, adjoining property owners were notified about the plan to remove the ash trees on them.
The ash trees the city cut down were to be put in a pile and burned because they could be infested.
Of the total 90 street ash trees the city had, 16 of them were located on the four blocks of Main Street that is being reconstructed.
Berrens said those trees are being replaced with a more diversified tree stock.
The city’s forester has authority to condemn dead, diseased or hazardous trees that are on private property.
Berrens encourages private property owners who have ash trees to remove or treat them.
Removal or treatment would be at their cost.
He directs them to the DNR’s website for information and said they may also contact a forester.
In regard to the trees removed on public property, the city plans to replant trees of other species as soon as possible, based on its budget.
“We may not be able to do it all at once,” Berrens told the council.
He noted the city has received grants in the past to plant trees and will continue to seek such grants.