Brandon Twp.-Jim Cowen now has plenty of firewood.
But while thoughts of plenty of fuel for his fireplace may seem like a good idea’it’s not his choice after cutting about 13 trees from his Oakwood Road home yard.
‘I hate the trees being cut,? said Cowen. ‘I love having the trees to block the road noise and providing a wind break.?
Like thousands of other homeowners, Cowen’s trees died after an infestation of the emerald ash borer (EAB). The exotic beetle was discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients.
‘Biologists from Michigan State University came out last year and looked over my trees,? said Cowen. ‘They told me there was a partial infestation’there was not much anyone could do at that time.?
Cowen is not alone.
According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, EABs have killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana. Most of the devastation is in southeastern Michigan.
‘It’s amazing the damage the ash borer has caused statewide,? said Jim Bowes, spokesman from the state Department of Agriculture. ‘Right now we’re not talking about eradication of the ash borer, rather, a way to live along with it. The ash borers have no natural enemies. They can feed and breed unabated.?
Earlier this month, the state Department of Agriculture OK’d a pesticide to fight the ash borer. The product is intended to be used on relatively healthy single ash trees or a small group of trees rather than an entire forest, said Bowes. The product is injected into the tree’s bark and has been effective in killing the ash borer, but it won’t hurt anything that land or climbs on the tree, including butterflies, birds or squirrels.
Research at Michigan State University indicated that the new product, which will be sold as ‘Treeage? was remarkably effective in controlling EAB said Deborah McCullogh, MSU forest entomologist and EAB researchers.
‘Research has been going very fast to slow the spread of this deadly insect.? Bowes said that last year three species of very small wasps were released in the environment to act as predators to the ash borers to bring the natural equation back in balance.
Area resident Ronald Pepera has been in the tree removal business for more than 40 years and is the owner and president of Metropolitan Tree, Inc. Pepera specializes in commercial and residential tree service offering a wide variety of tree work from tree removal, trimming, wood chipping, and stump grinding to emergency cleanups.
‘Right now the ash tree is just about all gone from the area,? said Pepera, who estimates cutting more than 10,000 dead ash trees over the last 10 years. ‘Residents have to decide if the tree is really worth it before they pay to treat’it could be a waste of money if the ash tree is going to die anyway.?
Pepera said consider the bark beetle, which infested trees in past years, causing Dutch elm disease.
‘We treated trees for Dutch elm disease’and the trees died anyway. Now that disease is going away because the food source is going away. It’s the same with ash trees, right now the ash borer has lots of food and they prosper.?