Ash borer battle heats up in DuPage County

A tree-killing beetle invaded DuPage three years ago, but the county took its biggest hit so far this year as six suburbs reported infestation.

Lisle last week became the latest DuPage suburb to report battling the emerald ash borer, bringing the total to 12 since 2007.

Arborists and others involved with managing trees in the public domain are closely watching the spread of the metallic-green beetle, which has killed 25 million ash trees since first being confirmed in the Midwest eight years ago.

The pest is a tough match against their best efforts, said Juliann Heminghous, the emerald ash borer outreach coordinator for Illinois Department of Agriculture.

"Trees may be infested and look very beautiful and healthy but, really, they are sick and they are dying," she said.

That's because the pest is difficult to detect; ash borer evidence or damage may not show up for three to five years after infestation. Communities like Lisle and Bloomingdale, which also confirmed infestation this year, tried to stave off the pest by removing ash trees in poor condition that are more susceptible to the borer.

Last year in Bloomingdale workers removed 60 trees in the village and replaced them with species tolerant of the borer. But the town was already surrounded by other suburbs battling the beetle.

Lisle also worked for three years to remove trees that seemed to have signs of the bug, but proactive efforts in both villages weren't enough.

Heminghous added that not all communities have the financial resources to work in advance against the beetle.

"I can't fault anyone for not being able to do that ... every decision will be a financial one," she said.

Municipalities also typically do not monitor, remove or treat infested trees on private property.

Detections previously have been made in Bureau, Champaign, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry, McLean and Will counties. All or parts of 23 counties in northern and central Illinois are under quarantine to prevent the spread of the insect.

Still, there have been some victories in the efforts to stop the spread. While pockets of infestations have been observed, they have not knitted together.

Heminghous said she believes Illinois residents are starting to understand why quarantine rules that affect the sale and transport of firewood - one of the biggest ways to spread infestation - are so important.

"When you are threatened in your pocketbook and lose a tree you love in your own backyard because someone brought infested firewood, now there is an awareness that there is a cost to these actions and people are changing how they do things," she said.

The department is also in its third year of placing purple sticky traps in almost 40 Illinois counties that are hot spots for the pest. The plastic traps are covered in tanglefoot and baited with manuka oil, a pheromone that mimics the scent of a declining ash tree. The traps capture adult borers if they are already in the area but do not bring them to the vicinity.

Some private companies are also offering help. A Walnut Creek, Calif.-based company is working with several suburbs in an effort to treat infected ash trees with an insecticide that kills the larvae before they can dig tunnels into the tree's trunk.

For more details on the emerald ash borer, visit www.agr.state.il.us/eab

<p class="News"><b>Where is the emerald ash borer in DuPage?</b></p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found July 2010: Warrenville: Mack Road and Essex Lane; Lisle, Trinity and Golfview</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found April 2010: West Chicago: Church and Ann streets; Wheaton, Glencoe Street and Geneva Road</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found February 2010: Bloomingdale: Southeast corner of Springfield Drive and Butterfield Road</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found July 2009: Addison: Swift Road; Lombard, North Garfield Street</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found June 2009: Itasca: Washington and Walnut streets</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found March 2009: Glen Ellyn: Whittier Avenue</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found November 2008: Aurora: In a trap tree along a right-of-way</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found July 2008: Unincorporated Lombard and York Township: Cortland Avenue</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found November 2007: Carol Stream: South Kuhn Road.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Found July 2007: Glendale Heights: Concord Green Shopping Shopping Center on North Avenue and Bloomingdale Road.</p>