WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – More trees are gone. The war against an implacable enemy goes on.
Watertown city planner Mike DeMarco stands on a street near Thompson Park and counts out loud. “One, two, three ash trees gone. All in the last three years.”
Watertown, at least, is not alone. In at least 35 states, an invasive insect called the emerald ash borer has destroyed millions of ash trees. The ash borer first made its way to the U.S. in the early 2000s, but it didn’t show up in Watertown until 2019. Now the north country’s ash trees are in danger.
“We’re losing canopy. We’re losing our return on investment on tree assets. rather than planting trees in new places we have to then replace the ash trees,” said DeMarco.
The city has treated some trees with pesticides but the bugs have still taken their toll.. A number of trees have either died or been pruned to prevent the species’ spread. DeMarco urges the community to look for warning signs like thinning leaves towards the top of trees.
“It’s one of the most important aspects. If you’re not going to treat an ash tree you’re going to need a plan to remove it because it will die,” he said.
One of the locations hardest hit by the ash borer – Jefferson Community College. More than 170 infected trees were identified there, and 100 of them were removed.
The ash borer is a particularly insidious pest; it kills by planting its eggs in the tree. When they hatch, they “feed on the inner tissues of the tree, they disrupt the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients, gradually killing the tree,” according to the web site the spruce.
In all, over eight billion ash trees are at risk from the ash borer, according to the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
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