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- Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Bloomingdale
Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Bloomingdale
The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) has confirmed the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in the village of Bloomingdale. During routine tree inspections and branch trimming maintenance on Wednesday, February 17, 2010, village of Bloomingdale Forestry staff Certified Arborists discovered the EAB in parkway trees on Springfield Drive between Army Trail Road and Butterfield Drive. The Department of Agriculture has inspected and confirmed the discovery on Thursday, February 18, 2010.
Bloomingdale Forestry staff is now inspecting, and will continue to monitor the surrounding area to determine as best as practicable the full extent of the EAB infestation.
About the EAB
The EAB is a small, metallic green insect suspected to have arrived in the U.S. from Asia, probably traveling with ship cargo packaged in wooden pallets and crates. Because no fully effective insecticidal eradication treatment exists, the EAB poses a significant threat to the urban forest of Illinois. It was 1st identified in the spring of 2002 in the Detroit, Michigan Ontario, Canada area. It is estimated that EAB has killed over 20 million ash trees in Michigan. In the past several years since it was identified, infestations have been discovered in Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Local Outbreaks
Locally the EAB has been detected in Addison east of Bloomingdale, unincorporated areas of Bloomingdale Township to the southeast, and unincorporated Glendale Heights to the south.
Addressing these outbreaks has required an organized response by Federal, State, and local agencies and the cooperation of stakeholder groups and private property owners.
How EAB Kills Trees
An EAB infestation kills Ash trees relatively quickly. No American Ash (Fraxinus species), whether healthy or stressed, is resistant to the EAB infestation. The beetle deposits eggs on the surface or cracks of the ash tree bark, which hatch to release larvae that feed on the tree's phloem and outer sapwood. Within several weeks larval feeding creates S-shaped galleries in the tree's inner bark that wind back and forth, becoming progressively wider and girdling the trunk and branches as larvae grow. Adult beetles emerge head 1st, creating a very small 3-4 millimeter ‘D-shaped' exit hole which leaves minimal evidence of infestation until the tree canopy begins to die back. Further declining in the 2nd growing season, the infested tree usually dies by the 3rd to 5th season.
Our Response
The recent and numerous EAB discoveries underscore the need for communities to be proactive against the EAB. The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) has urged community officials to initiate an Ash tree reduction strategy; which the village of Bloomingdale over the past 3 years has been removing moist susceptible, poor quality Ash trees from its public inventory of nearly 2,300 and replacing with species not susceptible to the infestation. Ash trees comprise nearly 25% of the total village-owned public tree inventory. The inventory of Ash trees on ‘private' properties would be in addition to this ‘public' village inventory.
Homeowners
It is important for property owners including residents, homeowner associations, businesses, and other public entities to become educated, aware, and vigilant inspecting their ash trees for signs of infestation. Village Forestry staff is available to confirm suspected infestation of EAB. If you suspect that you have found an adult or larval form of this insect, freeze the insect and bring it to the village of Bloomingdale's Public Works Facility at the following address:
305 Glen Ellyn Road
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
You may also contact the Public Works - Forestry Division at 630-671-5800 or the Illinois Department of Agriculture toll-free hotline 1-800-641-3934.
Treatment
Once an EAB infestation is confirmed on a ‘private' property, the owner is encouraged "to do the right thing" by taking the tree down and chipping/tub-grinding the tree to specifications identified by IDA. Pursuant to the village Tree Preservation Ordinance all properties, except those residential properties less than 1 (1) acre in area, require permits before proceeding with tree removal. In the case of permits owners will be required to replace trees removed with non-susceptible species as defined in the village Tree Preservation ordinance or pursuant to the requirements to provide a landscape plan pursuant to the development ordinance for the property. Regardless of a permit requirement, the village is requesting property owners notify the village of a tree removal necessitated by an EAB infestation.
A list of qualified tree contractors with compliance agreements to safely remove infested trees is posted on the IDA website.
Bloomingdale Forestry staff is now inspecting, and will continue to monitor the surrounding area to determine as best as practicable the full extent of the EAB infestation.
About the EAB
The EAB is a small, metallic green insect suspected to have arrived in the U.S. from Asia, probably traveling with ship cargo packaged in wooden pallets and crates. Because no fully effective insecticidal eradication treatment exists, the EAB poses a significant threat to the urban forest of Illinois. It was 1st identified in the spring of 2002 in the Detroit, Michigan Ontario, Canada area. It is estimated that EAB has killed over 20 million ash trees in Michigan. In the past several years since it was identified, infestations have been discovered in Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Local Outbreaks
Locally the EAB has been detected in Addison east of Bloomingdale, unincorporated areas of Bloomingdale Township to the southeast, and unincorporated Glendale Heights to the south.
Addressing these outbreaks has required an organized response by Federal, State, and local agencies and the cooperation of stakeholder groups and private property owners.
How EAB Kills Trees
An EAB infestation kills Ash trees relatively quickly. No American Ash (Fraxinus species), whether healthy or stressed, is resistant to the EAB infestation. The beetle deposits eggs on the surface or cracks of the ash tree bark, which hatch to release larvae that feed on the tree's phloem and outer sapwood. Within several weeks larval feeding creates S-shaped galleries in the tree's inner bark that wind back and forth, becoming progressively wider and girdling the trunk and branches as larvae grow. Adult beetles emerge head 1st, creating a very small 3-4 millimeter ‘D-shaped' exit hole which leaves minimal evidence of infestation until the tree canopy begins to die back. Further declining in the 2nd growing season, the infested tree usually dies by the 3rd to 5th season.
Our Response
The recent and numerous EAB discoveries underscore the need for communities to be proactive against the EAB. The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) has urged community officials to initiate an Ash tree reduction strategy; which the village of Bloomingdale over the past 3 years has been removing moist susceptible, poor quality Ash trees from its public inventory of nearly 2,300 and replacing with species not susceptible to the infestation. Ash trees comprise nearly 25% of the total village-owned public tree inventory. The inventory of Ash trees on ‘private' properties would be in addition to this ‘public' village inventory.
Homeowners
It is important for property owners including residents, homeowner associations, businesses, and other public entities to become educated, aware, and vigilant inspecting their ash trees for signs of infestation. Village Forestry staff is available to confirm suspected infestation of EAB. If you suspect that you have found an adult or larval form of this insect, freeze the insect and bring it to the village of Bloomingdale's Public Works Facility at the following address:
305 Glen Ellyn Road
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
You may also contact the Public Works - Forestry Division at 630-671-5800 or the Illinois Department of Agriculture toll-free hotline 1-800-641-3934.
Treatment
Once an EAB infestation is confirmed on a ‘private' property, the owner is encouraged "to do the right thing" by taking the tree down and chipping/tub-grinding the tree to specifications identified by IDA. Pursuant to the village Tree Preservation Ordinance all properties, except those residential properties less than 1 (1) acre in area, require permits before proceeding with tree removal. In the case of permits owners will be required to replace trees removed with non-susceptible species as defined in the village Tree Preservation ordinance or pursuant to the requirements to provide a landscape plan pursuant to the development ordinance for the property. Regardless of a permit requirement, the village is requesting property owners notify the village of a tree removal necessitated by an EAB infestation.
A list of qualified tree contractors with compliance agreements to safely remove infested trees is posted on the IDA website.