LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Lincoln has been cutting down young, healthy ash trees to save money for its fight against an insect that has killed millions of the trees in other states.
The emerald ash borer has been confirmed within 16 miles of Lincoln and may already be in the state capital. The city has around 70,000 ash trees, including about 14,000 on street rights-of-way and in parks. The insect’s larva eats under the bark of the tree and kills it within a few years.
The city is focusing on removing younger ash trees that, according to experts, would require $150 chemical treatments every two years to keep them alive though an infestation, the Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/2hqer0c ) reported. City forester Bob Weyhrich said ash trees tend to have a lifespan of 60 to 70 years.
Under the city program, replacement trees will be lining streets as untreated ash trees die. Five neighborhood homeowner associations have become part of the city’s program this year, where homeowners allow the city to cut ash trees in the right-of-way between the sidewalk and the curb cut.
Weyhrich said about 95 percent of homeowners agreed to have the ash trees cut. They will receive $225 for a replacement tree.
Last fiscal year, Lincoln removed and replaced 222 ash trees, and it plans to remove and replace an additional 400 to 500 this year. The city has budgeted $1 million for the ash borer program.
The city recommends that neighborhoods alternate tree types on their blocks, so that entire street canopies aren’t wiped out in the future due to potential infestations.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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