Nov 26, 2009 1:25 pm US/Central
Emerald Ash Borer Hits Oak Forest
OAK FOREST, Ill. (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
Earlier this year, Oak Forest public works director Troy Ishler said it wasn't a matter of "if" the emerald ash borer would begin infesting the city's ash trees, but a matter of "when."
When is apparently now after the Illinois Department of Agriculture confirmed to the city the ash borer had been identified in at least one tree.
Joe Petrizzo, Oak Forest's superintendent of streets for the public works department and a certified arborist, said a property manager for an apartment complex called him last week to come and look at a tree at the complex.
Petrizzo said he noticed an abundance of woodpecker holes. Because the tree was on private property, Petrizzo suggested the manager cut off a branch and send it in for testing.
Petrizzo also took a branch back to the public works department to examine for himself.
Because of all the woodpecker holes in the tree, Petrizzo said he had a feeling it would be the ash borer. The presence of woodpecker holes, he said, is a sign that the birds are feeding on something.
He had his feeling confirmed when he cut apart the branch and found larvae inside.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, adult ash borers cause minimal damage to trees. But their larvae feed and bore through the inner bark of a tree, disrupting the flow of water and nutrients.
The beetle was unknown in North America until 2002, when it was found to have killed thousands of ash trees in southeast Michigan. Agriculture department officials believe the beetle arrived in solid wood packing material on cargo ships from Asia.
How the city is going to tackle the problem is still up in the air. Petrizzo said a city survey accounted for about 2,500 ash trees on public property alone. City officials don't have a count of how many more there are on private property or on nearby forest preserve property.
"Funding is a huge problem," Petrizzo said Wednesday. "How are we going to pay for taking the trees down and replanting?"
Mayor Hank Kuspa said Wednesday he had just heard the news about the ash borer the day before and didn't yet know what the city was going to do.
Kuspa said if the ash borer is going to be eliminated, it has to be the result of a regional effort.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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