Emerald Ash Borer Update
- Emerald Ash Borer has been found in Wood County but has not currently been found within the City of Marshfield
- Throughout the creation of the EAB management plan the City has done extensive research and also inspection of the City owned Ash trees.
- A combination of removal, replacement, and treatment is what experts in the field recommend as the sound way of managing EAB.
- Communities in and around Wood County have reached out to us as leaders in the local area in regards to formulating a management plan and community awareness.
Signs of EAB to look for:
- Spring Time
- Watch for woodpecker activity on ash trees. Woodpecker will be pecking holes to eat borer in its Pupae stage.Spring and summer
- Observe for canopy dieback which begins in the upper one-third of the canopy and will progress over time until the tree is bare.
- What may have been some declining areas last summer would grow into a higher percentage of dieback this summer.
- Also Epicormic shoots will form, from the roots and trunk, because the nutrients the roots are taking in cannot reach the upper canopy do to xylem damage from S shaped galleries.
- This is usually visible after some dieback has occurred.Over summer
- Once the adult beetle has emerged the beetle creates a very distinct D shaped exit hole in the bark.
- If D shaped holes are visible peel a small area of bark and look for S shaped serpentine galleries.
- The amount of damage done by EAB will vary depending on the population of EAB in that area.
Annual Maintenance of EAB Management Plan
- The City is doing annual inspections after full leaf out and while giving treatment
- 218 Ash trees scheduled to be treated along City ROW’s
- 77 Ash trees are scheduled to be treated within “manicured” Parks areas
- All other Ash trees are scheduled to be removed.
- 2016 was our first year of treating our remaining ash trees
- We treated 149 Ash between Parks and Street Trees in 2016
- 2017 we will treat the remaining ~150
Future growth opportunities
- 2017 we have made it our goal to find more cost effective means to increase our diversity and number of new tree plantings.
- Occasionally the reluctance of a homeowner to have a tree planted adjacent to their house has decreased our available planting locations.
- For that reason, the city is asking any homeowner who would like to see a tree planted adjacent to their property to please call the Street Division at 715-486-2081
- The City recommends to seek the opinion of an ISA Certified Arborist and to also follow all regulatory laws to limit the spread of all Pests and Diseases.
Marshfield Arbor Day Celebration will be held on May 4th at 1:00pm at Lincoln Elementary School. DNR Urban Forester Don Kissinger will help plant a tree, and will celebrate the importance of trees with roughly 50 3rd graders. Each student will receive a white spruce grow plug to plant at their house with their family. Other attendees will be Mayor Chris Meyer, Street Superintendent Mike Winch, Jean Warp, and Tim Rasmussen.
