Cudahy DPW to Develop Emerald Ash Borer Strategic Plan
The City of Cudahy Department of Public Works (DPW) is taking a proactive approach when it comes to combating the invasive and devastating emerald ash borer. The DPW is developing a program of treatment, removal and replanting in case anything happens to the city’s ash trees. About 15% of Cudahy’s street trees are ash trees.
The emerald ash borer was confirmed in the City of Franklin on August 27, 2009. So far it has not been detected in Cudahy.
In January the DPW was awarded a $15,000 matching grant to hire a consultant to prepare an Emerald Ash Borer Strategic Plan.
Mary Jo Lange, the City of Cudahy Director of Public Works, says the first step is taking an inventory of the location, size, age and health of Cudahy’s current ash tree population. After that, a recommendation and cost analysis can be developed for the treatment, removal and/or replacement of the city’s ash trees.
“This strategic plan will include an annual budget allowing for the treatment and replanting of Cudahy’s ash trees, if it becomes necessary,” Lange said. “We also will have the tools we need to make sound decisions about the treatment of each tree.”
The DPW hopes to have the strategic plan completed by October of 2010. The plan and its recommendations will be available to residents and discussed at several public meetings.
The emerald ash borer is an invasive wood boring beetle from East Asia that feeds on the tissues under the bark of ash trees and kills them. It was accidentally imported to the United States within the wood of shipping crates from China. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the emerald ash borer is 100 percent fatal to ash trees of any size, age or health.
