Schaumburg lowers threshold for ash trees' removal
Schaumburg's ash tree management and reforestation plans are continuing to evolve in the wake of the emerald ash borer infestation and its wave of destruction.
Village trustees Tuesday approved lowering the threshold for infected trees' removal, reducing the frequency of treatments on surviving trees, and changing where parkway trees can be replaced.
The former threshold for the removal of an infected tree was that 50 percent of its leaves above the main trunk be missing. Under the new standards, only 30 percent of the leaves may be missing.
This increases the number of trees to be removed this year from 400 to 993.
On the other hand, village staff feel the frequency of treatments for still thriving ash trees can be reduced.
Engineering and Public Works Director David Lawry said this is because the main wave of the ash borer infestation has already come and gone.
Staff members believe soil injections of the Xytect treatment can be done every other year instead of annually, while the Tree-äge treatments may be done every three years instead of every two. Both products are insecticides.
Of the 3,592 ash trees remaining in the village's inventory, it's believed 524 can be made to last to a nearly normal life span. That's because they began treatment before they were significantly damaged, Lawry said.
Since 2012, 7,513 ash trees have been removed in Schaumburg.
Some parkway trees were removed from spaces now considered too small for replanting. The current minimum is for these spaces to be 8 feet wide and with a total area of 60 square feet.
There are 1,053 parkway spaces from which trees were removed that don't meet these standards.
But in such cases, village staff are now allowed to work with homeowners to plant the replacement trees in front yards and transfer ownership to the residents once the trees' warranty periods expire.
The replacement trees represent a diversity of species, but absolutely no ash trees.