MONROE - With the removal of a number of trees as emerald ash borer came to Green County just over a year ago, Parks Director Paul Klinzing is taking steps to replace the ash trees coming down.
The Monroe Common Council agreed to allow the Parks and Recreation Department to apply for an Urban Forestry Grant through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday. The request is for $25,000.
"It just helps us get more done," Klinzing said of the grant. The department applied for and received the same amount last year.
A 2015 inventory of trees in Monroe showed 777 ash trees; 680 trees on public terraces and 97 ash trees in city parks. Of those, 336 ash trees were in good or excellent health.
"Our goal is to treat that many of them," Klinzing said.
The emerald ash borer is an invasive beetle that is highly destructive to ash trees. They have spread throughout North America in recent years, prompting many municipalities to adopt measures to limit their damage.
Over the past two years, Klinzing said, the city has removed 83 trees, with 76 of them being on public terraces, the grassy area between sidewalk and street. The city treated 228 ash trees this year for $20,000, a process that can slow down the borers' attacks or prevent them completely. Each treatment lasts two years.
Klinzing said the main priority is to work as quickly as possible with both grant funds and the forestry budget to rid the city of the problem.
"We may have to pick up the pace is things progress further," Klinzing said.
Part of the plan is to replace the missing trees to be removed in future years and those already taken down because of the emerald ash borer.
The parks department offers a terrace tree planting program in the spring and autumn for residents who want trees planted outside their homes. The city will plant an American Sentry Linden for $65 in the fall or a London Plane in the spring for $145. Other trees include Kentucky Coffee trees in the fall and Hackberry or Turkish Hazelnut beginning in April. Regal Prince Oak trees can be planted during both seasons. Klinzing focused on the variety.
"The key is diversity," he said.
About $4,000 of the grant request will go towards funding the program and replanting in parks.
The Monroe Common Council agreed to allow the Parks and Recreation Department to apply for an Urban Forestry Grant through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday. The request is for $25,000.
"It just helps us get more done," Klinzing said of the grant. The department applied for and received the same amount last year.
A 2015 inventory of trees in Monroe showed 777 ash trees; 680 trees on public terraces and 97 ash trees in city parks. Of those, 336 ash trees were in good or excellent health.
"Our goal is to treat that many of them," Klinzing said.
The emerald ash borer is an invasive beetle that is highly destructive to ash trees. They have spread throughout North America in recent years, prompting many municipalities to adopt measures to limit their damage.
Over the past two years, Klinzing said, the city has removed 83 trees, with 76 of them being on public terraces, the grassy area between sidewalk and street. The city treated 228 ash trees this year for $20,000, a process that can slow down the borers' attacks or prevent them completely. Each treatment lasts two years.
Klinzing said the main priority is to work as quickly as possible with both grant funds and the forestry budget to rid the city of the problem.
"We may have to pick up the pace is things progress further," Klinzing said.
Part of the plan is to replace the missing trees to be removed in future years and those already taken down because of the emerald ash borer.
The parks department offers a terrace tree planting program in the spring and autumn for residents who want trees planted outside their homes. The city will plant an American Sentry Linden for $65 in the fall or a London Plane in the spring for $145. Other trees include Kentucky Coffee trees in the fall and Hackberry or Turkish Hazelnut beginning in April. Regal Prince Oak trees can be planted during both seasons. Klinzing focused on the variety.
"The key is diversity," he said.
About $4,000 of the grant request will go towards funding the program and replanting in parks.