Carol Stream almost done replacing trees infected by ash borer

Carol Stream has reached the homestretch of a nearly decadelong fight against a tiny beetle that dealt a major blow to the village's parkway trees.

Roughly 3,000 have been lost to the emerald ash borer since inspectors first discovered the metallic green pest in Carol Stream in November 2007.

Public Works Director Phil Modaff is preparing for an update to the village board April 18 on winding down efforts to chop down ash trees infected by the borer and to reforest parkways with a wider array of species. The village also will celebrate that progress during a ceremonial tree planting on Arbor Day later this month.

"We're nearing the end," Modaff said Thursday.

In 2007, before Modaff's tenure, trustees set aside $2.25 million to remove and replace deteriorating trees. They also inked a "very unique" agreement with St. Aubin Nursery in Kirkland, Illinois, to start paying for new trees even before harvest, allowing the village to spread out costs at a time when other towns were cutting back in the Great Recession, Modaff said.

But the rate of decline in infected trees accelerated, and the village sped up its consumption of new ones, Modaff said.

Now, 60 to 70 ash trees remain standing in the village, and as of last summer, their condition didn't require removal, Modaff said.

This year, about 300 more trees - 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter - will be planted, most of which will replace those that fell to the borer.

"I think that we'll be at the end as far as EAB goes," said Modaff, adding that the project has stayed under budget.

At only about a half-inch long, the beetle native to Asia is difficult to spot. But there are warning signs that ash trees are infected, including damage from woodpeckers trying to eat larvae and D-shaped holes in the bark of the trunk and branches, the Illinois Department of Agriculture says.

The larvae, not the adult emerald ash borer, cause the fatal blow, feeding on the inner bark and essentially cutting off the pathway for nutrients to the rest of the tree.

Last fall, the state confirmed the emerald ash borer had been detected in 60 counties across Illinois, or 10 more than a previous survey of traps.

In Carol Stream, crews have planted a mix of species to help prevent another outbreak or disease from wreaking havoc on parkway trees.

Among the new varieties? Sugar and armstrong maples, English and chinkapin oaks, chanticleer pear and pink sparkles crabapples, Modaff said.

"Even on the same block, we tried to spread out the species," he said.