PLATTEVILLE - Southwest Badger can help communities take a proactive approach against the invasion of emerald ash borer. Due to a grant from the Department of Natural Resources, Southwest Badger staff are available to inventory community ash trees.
Patrick Dayton, Southwest Badger forester, will be working with communities to locate and rate community-owned ash trees in parks and right-of-ways.
The inventory will not include privately owned trees.
Emerald ash borer have not been found in all communities, but the work of removing and/or treating ash trees and planting new trees will be costly if a community waits until the bug is found and all ash trees are infected, Dayton said.
Southwest Badger received a grant to provide a tree risk survey of ash trees in a limited number of communities in southwest Wisconsin. Interested communities should contact Southwest Badger to apply. The main focus will be the identification of the 50 best ash trees and the 50 worst ash trees. Communities will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, until funding is gone.
The hope is that even when emerald ash borer invades, the urban forest will be healthy enough to continue to provide the benefits of trees, including water retention, heat reduction, clean air, increased property values and visual attractiveness.
The emerald ash borer is a beetle native to northern Asia that was first found in the United States in Michigan in 2002.
Southwest Badger is a community development organization serving Crawford, Grant, Green, Iowa, La Crosse, Lafayette, Richland, Sauk and Vernon counties.
For more information and to apply, contact Dayton at 608-637-5479 or pdayton@vernoncounty.org.
Patrick Dayton, Southwest Badger forester, will be working with communities to locate and rate community-owned ash trees in parks and right-of-ways.
The inventory will not include privately owned trees.
Emerald ash borer have not been found in all communities, but the work of removing and/or treating ash trees and planting new trees will be costly if a community waits until the bug is found and all ash trees are infected, Dayton said.
Southwest Badger received a grant to provide a tree risk survey of ash trees in a limited number of communities in southwest Wisconsin. Interested communities should contact Southwest Badger to apply. The main focus will be the identification of the 50 best ash trees and the 50 worst ash trees. Communities will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, until funding is gone.
The hope is that even when emerald ash borer invades, the urban forest will be healthy enough to continue to provide the benefits of trees, including water retention, heat reduction, clean air, increased property values and visual attractiveness.
The emerald ash borer is a beetle native to northern Asia that was first found in the United States in Michigan in 2002.
Southwest Badger is a community development organization serving Crawford, Grant, Green, Iowa, La Crosse, Lafayette, Richland, Sauk and Vernon counties.
For more information and to apply, contact Dayton at 608-637-5479 or pdayton@vernoncounty.org.
