How suburbs are dealing with the emerald ash borer

There are almost as many ways to approach the emerald ash borer as there are communities.

Here are a few examples.

Arlington Heights

One-third of the parkway trees, about 13,000, are ash; the village will split the approximately $100 cost of treating parkway trees with any homeowner willing to make the investment — as long as the homeowner uses TREE-Age and has a licensed technician inject the treatment.

The reimbursement is for one year only. Arlington Heights also intends to borrow about $11.5 million to cut down and replace trees on the parkways.

Village staff members plan to treat about 800 trees on its own property.

Elgin

With 6,900 public ash trees, about 15 percent of the city’s public trees, city crews selected 2,000 to treat, based on size, condition and location. Fourteen hundred have been removed and 3,500 more will come down at the rate of about 500 a year. City workers are treating with Imidacloprid or Safari for about $24 per tree per year. They estimate it costs $800-$1,200 for a contractor to remove a tree.

Gurnee

Arborists on the village staff have treated about 70 percent of the 3,400 public ash trees with TREE-Age injections, based on a tree’s health. They started in 2011 but held off this year because of the drought, treating 1,400 when summer rains finally came. The $100 per tree cost of using TREE-Age drops dramatically — to about $30 per tree — when it is applied by city workers. Untreated trees will be removed and hopefully replaced.

Naperville

The city began treating trees in a small area in 2008. When officials realized the infestation had spread throughout town, they calculated that removing and replacing more than 16,000 ash trees (representing about 27 percent of all parkway trees) would cost $14 million; in contrast, a six-year treatment plan using outside contractors would cost $4 million. Of the 14,000 ash trees under 20 inches in diameter, those in good enough condition are treated with Imidacloprid soil injections at a cost of about $1 per inch; 2,700 larger trees receive TREE-Age injections at about $6 per diameter inch every other year. About 1,000 trees are being treated with Safari on an experimental basis. This year 700 trees have been removed, and after next year the annual rate of removal is expected to double for a few years.

Schaumburg

The village plans to save more than 700 “high value” trees by treating 524 large ones with TREE-Age and letting Valent Professional Products treat 200 more with Safari. Village staff members will treat another 5,400 trees with a product containing Imidacloprid which they expect will slow, not stop, their eventual demise — but will spread out their removal and make it more affordable. Next year not as many trees will be treated because continued treatment would be expensive, and some trees are not healthy enough, said Steven Weinstock, director of engineering and public works. Schaumburg’s 10-year plan calls for trees to be removed over five years and the parkways to be reforested over the next five with a more diverse assortment. Residents who want to replace their parkway trees faster or want bigger trees can pay part of the cost. Some areas of town will choose from three species of trees for parkway replanting; in other areas there are up to 16 choices, depending on the existing tree population.

Vernon Hills

The village will not treat trees because of the long-term expense and the lack of guarantee of effectiveness, said John M. Kalmar, assistant village manager. Residents who treat their parkway trees are asked to notify village hall to prevent the village from removing those trees. Of Vernon Hills’ 11,000 public trees, 3,500 are ash.

West Chicago

The city treated 1,835 of its 2,456 ash trees in 2011, with all but 49 of them seeming healthy enough for continued treatment this spring. The price is $4.15 per diameter inch, and the contract says the vendor will treat private trees at the same rate. A total of 621 ash trees have come down in the last few years, with a contractor removing two-thirds and the remainder cut down by city staff.

Ÿ Sources: Interviews; Daily Herald stories; municipal websites.