By Julia Purdy
RUTLAND— Last fall Rutland neighborhood streets glowed with the golden foliage of ash trees, but since October, 75 streetside ash trees have been removed, Public Works Commissioner Jeff Wennberg told the Mountain Times Jan.23. That was the target number for 2018, with an equal number slated for 2019, and 45-50 trees in 2020.
Once popular as a tree for parks and streets, and a commercially valuable species, the white ash has been succumbing nationwide to the inroads of the emerald ash borer, an insect pest that has been detected elsewhere in Vermont.
In all, about two-thirds of the city’s 355 ash street trees will be removed in an attempt to discourage the pest. The remaining trees will be treated chemically “to try to save them,” Wennberg said.
The original plan was to take down all 355 trees, but Wennberg and City Forester Dave Schneider revised the plan, partly due to cost.
As did Barre, Berlin and Montpelier, Rutland conducted an inventory of its street ash trees. Every city-owned ash was evaluated along several criteria, Wennberg said. They considered the general health of each tree, its location and its aesthetic contribution to the streetscape. Branches can fall on power lines; tree roots can interfere with underground service lines. Those could be replaced with a smaller, less spreading species. They also considered whether the tree enhanced the streetscape in that location, and if its disappearance would detract visually.
A row of ash trees on North Main Street will be treated because they are healthy specimens, appropriately located, and enhance the streetscape of handsome houses. Another “corridor” is between Grove Street between Crescent Street and Field Ave.
All trees were ranked on a point system – and the city found about 100 that met all the criteria and would be worth the investment to try to save. Those will be “vaccinated” with a product that has had success in the Midwest, said Wennberg.
Wennberg said he and Dave Schneider believe that “this stuff is safe to use in an urban environment.”
The chemical is injected under the bark, not into the ground or in the soil. But to inject all 355 trees would have been prohibitively expensive and would have to be done every two years.
Noting that Assistant Forester/Arborist and city employee Tim Smith was a licensed pesticide applicator in Connecticut and has earned his license in Vermont, Wennberg said, “We now have the ability to apply the pesticide with our staff, that cuts the cost in half. We’re satisfied that it’s a safe product and we’re satisfied that it’s affordable. In the spring we will start to chemically treat.”
Only trees growing on city property, between the sidewalk and the curb, will be treated or removed.
Neighbors will be notified with doorhangers; each tree to be cut will be marked with a tag or orange paint. If residents find the loss of a tree disturbing, the city can offer a replacement species of the resident’s preference.
Private owners can also request an opinion on the health of a tree. The city will be “more than happy” to survey a private tree – “our guys have done a lot of research on this,” Wennberg said.
