St Paul has a structured plan for the removal of ash trees... which is estimated at 30% of the overall urban forest canopy. Many of these ash trees are in serious decline and would be candidates for removal regardless of the presence of the EAB. Beginning in early 2010 (started early Feb), Saint Paul's Forestry crews will be removing entire blocks of declining ash trees that have been identified throughout the city. These trees have not necessarily been identified as being infested, but will be tagged as needing to be removed. Only trees on public right-of-ways will be removed. No private property trees will be affected - you'll be doing that yourself if you find ash trees on your own property in decline. And since everyone above the age of reason is probably aware of the EAB problem - having the city do the removal to try and stem the situation shouldn't have any effect on property values. By contrast - consider a block of dead and dying trees and the negative effect that would have. There is currently no funding appropriated for the treatment of ash trees on public or private property. However, the Forestry unit will issue permits under certain conditions for the treatment of public property trees by a licensed commercial tree service if owners/residents choose to do so and are willing to pay the costs... highly unlikely people will go this route since it might only be forestalling the inevitable. If you want to hear about all this frst hand - A community meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on March 1st, 2010 at the Rice Recreation Center to discuss the structured removal of ash trees throughout Saint Paul. Forestry staff will be available to answer questions or concerns regarding EAB and ash removals at the meeting.

It will be a couple years before you notice anything. There have been no infested trees found associated with the find in Genesee Co. That being said the insect found in that trap is most likely an outlier from a higher population somewhere else (possibly closer to you or further away). For reference the infestation from Randolph in Catt Co. is 5+ years old. Localized damage around town is heavy if you know what your looking for but many people to this day do not know the insect exists in their community. The farthest find from "ground zero" recorded this year was 2.5 miles. The find in the Hudson is much Larger, at least a decade old. A conservative estimate of the infestation in that area would be 50 square miles. Many people point out how fast this is spreading, but in reality they are just pointing out the fact that we are getting better at finding it. The more people that are educated, the more people find it, and the "faster" it spreads. When in reality it may have been there for quite some time and no one noticed it. The original infestation in Michigan was found in 2003, however that population most likely dates back to the early 90s or late 80s. This will kill 100% of your ash. This will hit anything larger than your thumb and when your saplings get some age on them they will be hit by beetles coming from other properties/ trees. This will continue until your seed bank has been depleted. In order to save the trees you would need a simultaneous die off of all ash everywhere, at which point you could re-plant. This is unrealistic. You could treat some trees that may add value to your property but a forest wide treatment is also unrealistic. The general rule of thumb for treatment is, if you have a known infestation within 5 miles you should start treating trees you want to save. Also younger more vigorous trees are better candidates for treatment because they relocate the insecticide better. I would contact your local Extension office (master foresters), Local DEC Forester or other private forester for recommendations. If left on its own you may not be happy with the outcome (invasive's). Bio control may have some affect but what i have heard has not been all that promising. It will not be the answer but it may help if a management strategy is developed. There is no doubt about it that this will drastically alter forest composition, especially in the southern tier. Jared Spokowsky Senior Horticultural Inspector (WNY) NYS Dept of Ag / Division of Plant Industry

For the most up to date information on Emerald Ash Borer and how to treat it, see this publication: http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/Publication%20Files/On%20Your%20Street/Urban%20Forestry/AshTree_EAB_Insecticide_Factsheet.pdf (this link is also shown at the bottom of this message in clickable format) which was written by a set of university experts from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. They all have a LOT of expertise over multiple years, and really do know what they are talking about. I treated quite a number of my ash trees last year, with great success. Use a product containing Imidacloprid, and apply it as a soil drench evenly around the tree within 18" of the trunk. The cheapest product I could find that is available to the general public is Dominion 2L, which is a 21.4% concentrate of Imidacloprid. Apply it at the rate of .4 fluid ounces(that is 4/10 fl. oz.) per inch of diameter of the tree you wish to treat. (YES, that is twice the rate on the label, and this rate IS approved for use on Ash trees against Emerald Ash Borers without harm to the environment if applied following the brochure.) Make sure you remove all leaf litter and other organic matter from around the area you will treat. The reason is that this other organic matter will absorb the imidacloprid (bind it up) before the tree can take it up through its root system. You treat ONCE A YEAR sometime around mid to end of April (at my latitude of 40 degrees north -- Columbus, Ohio). The treatment lasts for an entire year. It will NOT prevent mature grubs that formed the previous year from emerging the year of application, but WILL kill the larvae that emerge from their egg-laying during the year of application, which protects the tree that year from their feeding. By the way, a single bottle of Dominion 2L will cost about $26, and there is enough insecticide to treat about 64 cumulative diameter inches of trees (e.g., 3 trees that are 22" in diameter (69" circumference), and that's a pretty big tree to treat for $8 a year!). If your trees are smaller, then it will take less of the product and treat more trees for fewer dollars per application, or a single tree for a much longer time (years). Mix about 1 to 1 1/2 gallons of water per tree with the appropriate fluid ounces of imidacloprid, and pour it SLOWLY AND EVENLY around the very base of the tree where the greatest concentration of roots are. Pour slowly enough that it soaks in and does not run off. Then keep that area moist for the next 2 weeks (DO NOT WATER DAILY!) -- natural rains in the spring should suffice without any extra watering in most cases. ANY QUESTIONS? Please read the bulletin I gave a URL of below for MUCH more information on treatment options for Ash trees. By the way, only mix enough product to use immediately. Tightly cap the rest. Imidacloprid is generally safe for humans and other animals, so you should not have to worry about any cats, dogs, squirrls, etc. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borer

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