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Plans continue to form in meeting infestation

 

As work continues in meeting the emerald ash borer infestation in Austin, the Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department on Monday set-up a demonstration with Warner Outdoor Solutions to further show who trees are being treated in Austin.

Earlier this year, before leaf-out the forestry team created to meet the EAB infestation, identified about 500 treatable ash trees in Austin and through its “treat-first” approach began the process of treating trees.

According to Warner Outdoor Solutions’ Pierre Taddeini, the treatment is a direct approach in dealing with EAB.

“The insecticide is specific to emerald ash borer and treating for emerald ash borer and killing existing insects,” he said, adding that the treatment is good for two years before needing another application.

While the initial set of 500 trees has been treated, the team has since identified another round of treatable trees not initially noted during the first survey.

Taddeini said trees can be treated through the fall and is done so by applying the insecticide directly into the root system. Success oftentimes depends on the size of the tree as bigger trees will absorb the chemical quicker.

As to whether treatment works is something that will have to be determined over the next couple years and depends largely on the health of the tree when treated.

“It moves through a neighborhood where we can have pockets of trees that are highly infested and some that aren’t as much so,” he said. “It’s a good investment if you’re looking at protecting a tree and possible replacement options as soon as possible.”

He went on to say that once infected it can take anywhere from between one to five years for the tree to die, making quick treatment once detected even more important.

“Getting to a tree within a couple years of infestation is really important to help save it,” Taddeini said. “The insecticide really just gives you an extra boost to help the tree with its own natural defenses.”

In order to do the treatment, the City of Austin was granted $40,000 in matching funds from the Hormel Foundation for a total of $80,000 to put toward the effort.

The option to treat is leans toward a more cost-effective approach to EAB because to treat a tree for two years costs around $150 to $200 per tree whereas the cost to take down the tree can range anywhere from $900 to $2,000.

City crews began the process of taking down trees that were beyond treatment late last year and have so far taken down around 350 so far with another 1,200 or so to go.

However, that only applies to managed trees on city properties and doesn’t account for trees in heavily wooded areas that are away from populations.

Nor does it account for trees on private property, though the city is making concentrated efforts to work with those people as well.

The city is urging people to treat when possible, however, when the only alternative is to cut the tree down, the city has worked with Warner, based in Woodbury, and Morem Tree Service in Austin to help citizens with that as well.

“I think it’s worth mentioning that as a part of our bidding process when we were selecting tree care companies, we asked if they would pass on some form of savings to Austin residents,” said forestry team member Kris Hahn. “We are working with what we have and trying to do our best to mitigate costs with landowners.”

Parks and Rec is also looking into more grants to help others with taking down their trees in the future if need be.

“One of those grants is to help private landowners, those with low income or disabilities, to help cover the cost to remove trees,” said Parks and Recreation Director Jason Sehon.

At the same time, Sehon said that they are also looking at replacing trees in the future and giving property owners a stake in that as well.

“We’re not ignoring replanting,” he said. “That’s something that is very much on our radar. We’re already looking at grant funding for that and we are looking at working with residents for boulevard trees. Planting them, but having residents adopt the trees and water them.”

One option is to attach watering bags and then asking property owners to keep those bags filled after the tree is planted as part of the adoption. The simple act would require filling the bag once a week once the tree is adopted.

“Getting them involved and really trying to help them understand that the city cares about our trees and we want the urban canopy to be green and beautiful,” Hahn added. “They can be a part of that.”