Efforts are underway to try to save millions of Ash trees in Hennepin County. The county recently received a $10 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Agriculture for their fight against Emerald Ash Borer.
Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive beetle that is destroying ash trees. They've already infected trees in 50 Minnesota counties this year. Part of the funding will go for the removal of these trees for low income property owners.
"The beetles themselves are, they complete their life cycles within, under the bark of the tree," says Dustin Ellis with Hennepin County Forestry. "And in doing that, the larvae carve out galleries within the tree and that then interrupts the flow of nutrients and water. It cuts off the flow of that and chokes the trees."
This, essentially, kills the trees. How then, can they be saved?
"The only way to save an ash tree that you have is to get it treated," says Ellis who adds there is no controlling it, but the goal is to save any tree still in good shape.
Ellis says any trees taken down will be mulched.
"And in our case, we use a lot of our own mulch for our tree planting, and some of it then goes to District Energy for wood waste energy," says Ellis.
Residents are advised to contact an arborist to get any of their trees treated.
Similar efforts are underway in St. Paul. During Mayor Melvin Carter's state of the city address on Tuesday, he said the City of St. Paul is poised to remove all city-managed ash trees.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
* Leaves on the top or one part of the tree start dying.
* Sprouts growing from the roots or base of the tree indicate it is stressed.
* Increased woodpecker activity with sections of the bark stripped away.
* Adult beetles leaving the tree create D-shaped exit holes.
* Larvae feeding on the tree's tissue leave a serpentine pattern underneath the bark.