By Tim Bull, City of Sheboygan Forester
The emerald ash borer (EAB) was first found within the City of Sheboygan in 2016. It is a non-native invasive insect which kills ash trees. In response, the City approved an emerald ash borer management plan to help decide the best course of action to manage the roughly 5,000 city ash trees at that time. That plan called for ongoing insecticide treatments to approximately 2,400 ash trees growing along city streets and in city parks. To date this treatment has been over 95% effective in keeping those ash trees alive. The non-treated ash trees are still in the process of being removed with currently about 500 remaining.
In 2018 and 2019, about 70 ash trees were removed from Lakeview and Rotary parks. During August and September 2020, 84 ash trees are being removed from Evergreen Area 5, Roosevelt, Veterans, and Cleveland Parks. This work has been contracted out to Wallace Tree and Landscape for just over $47,000.
Thanks to collaborative grant funding from non-profit and private sector sources, the City is pleased to announce that in October 2020, 127 sizable trees will be planted in these six parks to replace many of the ash trees that have been lost due to the emerald ash borer. The grant sponsors include Alliant Energy with a $5,000 corporate gift in collaboration with several area Rotary organizations. The Sheboygan Rotary Club and its Restoration Of Our Trees Sheboygan (ROOTS) emerald ash borer mitigation initiative along with the Sheboygan Early Bird Rotary Club and Rotary District 6270, have together provided additional grant funding of $15,000. The total of the grants is $20,000 which supports accelerated replanting of diverse species in these six City parks. The City of Sheboygan would like to thank these sponsors for their generosity in helping make this project possible.
The diversity of species being planted includes: Northern Catalpa, Ginkgo, Dawn Redwood, Quaking Aspen, Bur and Swamp White Oak, Serbian Spruce, Pyramid Pine, Jefferson Elm, Baldcypress, Birch, Tuliptree, Coffeetree, London Planetree, Sugar Maple, Serviceberry, Crabapple, and Katsura Tree.
►Learn more about the ROOTS program from the presentation at the July 20, 2020 Common Council meeting
►Request a street tree for your property
►Watch how injection treatments are done for ash trees