Geneva ready to battle pesky beetle to the end
Geneva Public Works Director Dan Dinges hasn't entirely lost hope for the city's ash tree population.
Despite the city's first emerald ash borer confirmation in January, he said scientists continue to search for a reliable way to combat the beetle. This means some trees could be saved within a few years. Unfortunately, he cannot wait that long for every tree.
"If they're infected, we're cutting them down," he said. "Unless they find a cure, a treatment that can eliminate the bug, we will, over several years, plan to replace all 2,200 (ash) trees."
The city of Geneva released an ash tree-reduction plan as a response to the first appearance of the bug. The Illinois Department of Agriculture told Dinges all ash trees in the city would probably be infested in the next five to seven years.
The beetle's larva feed on the inner bark of ash trees, which disrupts the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients.
Dinges said the plan was already in the works following discovery of the metallic-green beetle in Batavia last summer.
"It wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when," he said.
The city has conducted surveys of ash trees within a mile and a half of the original location along Bradbury Lane. So far, they have not found any other infested trees in those surveys and will survey trees on the east side of the river in the coming weeks.
The emerald ash borer first wreaked havoc on ash trees in 2002 in southeast Michigan. The pest then made it to Illinois in 2006 in Lily Lake. Since then, it has been found in several communities, including Wilmette, Evanston, Winnetka, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights and, on Wednesday, Naperville.
The federal government has Illinois under a quarantine, meaning ash wood cannot be transported outside of the state. Eighteen counties in Northeast Illinois, including Kane County, are under quarantine by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
In Batavia, the infestation has centered around an industrial park at Lyon Road and Kingsland Drive on the east side of town. A recent survey, however, found the bug in the northeast side of town along North Prairie Street. The initial discovery was made last June.
Scott Haines, street department superintendent, said the battle can be disheartening. "You really can't see the definitive signs for it until it's well on the way," he said.
That poses one of the toughest challenges for officials. Most of the time, symptoms don't appear until the beetle has infested the tree for three to five years. And each year, the bug's population can grow as much as 10 times, said Mark Cinnamon, the state plant regulatory official for the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
"This one is very insidious. It's the nature of the pest; it's very hard to find," he said.
In April, the department began the Purple Trap EAB Detection Program. This statewide program is intended to help detect the bugs earlier. But Cinnamon said this is probably just the beginning of the battle.
Despite the grim prognosis, Dinges still hasn't given up all hope.
He said the tree removal program, which will remove 100 trees this year, will move forward slowly in the years to come because of budget limitations. But that is not the only reason.
"It does impact the whole community if we take out 2,200 trees," he said. "If we stay in a program where we're doing X number of trees, hopefully they'll find a treatment to rid the trees of the bug (before all are gone)."