City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/22884
public opinion. It goes without saying that some resi- dents took strong exception to our suggestions. It helped tremendously that urban foresters from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry attended our meetings and provided an expert opinion (i.e., an opinion from outside Upper Arlington). To add to the fun, at least one member of City Council took extraordinary interest in the details, demanding to see every public record pertaining to EAB. Because a code change was part of the proposed policy, all interested parties had ample time to make their views known. By the end of 2006, the City Council passed the neces- sary code changes, and the commission adopted an EAB management policy that featured three strategies. 1. Street trees: the City began removing 10% of its 750 ash trees per year, with the goal of removing all untreated ashes within 10 years. Residents were encouraged to treat trees at their own expense if desired. The 10-year plan was designed to phase remov- als in a manageable fashion while finishing around the time EAB mortality began. 2. Park trees: the City began planting seed trees around wooded areas dominated by ash. Park trees will be left to die, fall, and decay in natural areas. Ashes with valuable targets nearby will be removed as they die. A few special commemorative and memorial ash trees are being treated by City contractors. 3. Private trees: the code change strength- ened the City’s ability to condemn dead & unsafe trees as public nuisances. In a community where the City will force prop- erty owners to mow lawns that exceed 6 inches tall, the council agreed that danger- ous trees merited similar enforcement. The code now allows the City to assess owners 150% of the City’s removal costs to provide an incentive for property own- ers to do the necessary work themselves. Public education has been constant to encourage private ash owners to prepare their own plans and finances. By phasing street tree removals over 10 years, the City hoped to complete the work without supplemental budgetary appropriations. However, with EAB mortality underway now (only 5 years into our plan), 10 years may be too long. We expect the damage in 2011 to be shocking, and we know that enforcing private property cases will be very time consuming. It’s also worth noting that Upper Arlington is a mature suburb with good species diversity. Diversity is increas- www.urban-forestry.com ing annually as we replace every ash we remove, but we have no subdivisions or neighborhood streets domi- nated by ashes as some communities do. This makes removal a more palatable option as well as a perma- nent remedy. We also knew fairly quickly that complete infestation was in our immediate future, so early detec- tion and delineation of EAB was not on our agenda. Our solution may not be for everyone, but the most impor- tant message is to plan now, so you are prepared when (not if) EAB arrives at your doorstep. That day may arrive sooner than you think. —Steve Cothrel, Superintendent of Parks & Forestry, Upper Arlington, Ohio EAB infestation and stabilize future City budgets, the plan calls for the removal and replacement of 662 public ash trees over 8 to 10 years. In 2010, the City received a Western Lake Erie Basin Grant for the removal and replacement of EAB infested ash trees on City-owned property. The grant is from the Ohio Division of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry for $22,500, which the City of Bowling Green matched. A total of 200 public ash trees will be removed and replaced with non-ash tree species. All city-owned ash trees will be removed by 2014. T Bowling Green is on the front line of EAB planning, miti- gation, and management. We cooperate with the USDA Forest Service, APHIS EAB Task Force, Ohio Department of Agriculture EAB Coordinator, ODNR Division of Forestry, and The Ohio State University (OSU) Extension. In July of 2007, OSU Extension EAB Coordinator Amy Stone contacted the City of Bowling Green about part- nering with OSU on an EAB research project to save the North American ash. City administration granted approval to assist and cooperate on the EAB research project, and the utilities department director and water pollution control superintendent set aside acreage for the research site. The initiation EAB Research genetic study will be complete by end of 2010. OSU has decid- ed to extend the study from 2011-2013. The City of Bowling Green cooperated on a second OSU EAB research project focused on EAB treatments for urban ash trees that began in May 2008 through May 2010 (results should be published in the fall of 2011). A total 64 ash trees are involved in the research project. OSU is expanding the EAB Treatment research from 2011-2013. Tree planting diversity has been the number one goal with the breakout of EAB. The City has tried to use the 10-20-30 rule of tree planting since 2004—no more than 10% of a species, 20% of a genus, and 30% of a family. In 2004, the initial GPS tree inventory data 27 he City of Bowling Green, Ohio created its EAB Management Plan in January 2005. To prevent an