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Certified Arborist M.D. Skeet, known as "Skeet," is the manager of the Naperville, Illinois branch of The Care of Trees, a Davey Tree compa- ny. Last year, he testified before the Illinois House of Representatives Agriculture and Conservation Committee as to the need for public funding to pre- serve Naperville's many ash trees. Naperville, IL is 28 miles (45 km) west of Chicago and has a population of 145,000. EAB was first identified in Naperville in 2008; in that year, an inventory found that 27% of Naperville's parkway trees are ashes. Skeet and his colleagues found the prospect of removing this many trees unacceptable. Skeet found an ally in 21st District State Senator Michael Connelly, who introduced SB 2658, which sought to add treating ash trees to the permissible uses for the state's Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) dollars (remov- al of trees was already permitted). Rather than proceeding through leg- islative channels, the matter got taken up by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), which amended its internal regulations to allow MFT funds to be used for both EAB treatment and removal (but not tree replacement). Naperville had been treating its ash trees for several years with a high success rate: better than 91%. For the 12,865 trees treated in 2013, the average cost per tree was a little more than $27, a great deal com- pared to the approximately $1000 per tree required to take down, stump grind, and replace diseased mature trees. Now, cash-strapped municipalities across Illinois can choose the treatment option and preserve their ash trees with MFT funds. Skeet offers a special thanks to Dr. Bob Buckman, president of the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation (NAHC), the NAHC, Illinois Department of Transportation Approves Use of Motor Fuel Tax Funds for the Treatment of EAB-Affected Trees Photos Courtesy Valent USA Corporation the City of Naperville, and Valent's Dr. Joe Chamberlin. (Chamberlin helped start the Legacy Tree Project that eventually saved 200 ash trees at a cost covered by Valent USA Corp.) Skeet says, "Dr. Bob and the NAHC had the 'right stuff' to spread the message to the right people, at the right time, with the right style to be effective." Questions for Skeet What has been your role and what has been the strategy to get the message out to the public? Skeet: I was getting frustrated in my role as "the arbor- ist" and well-respected "tree guy" that not many people were responding when I warned that all the ash trees 26-inch- (66 cm) DBH treated ash 32 City Trees