The Emerald Ash Borer, a beetle native to Asia first showed up in the US in 2002 in Michigan.
It is now in 20 additional states including 29 counties in Iowa. The closest it’s been to Council Bluffs is 50 miles away in Montgomery County, but city staff are preparing now.
Heather Tomasek, Parks Designer for the Council Bluffs Parks, Recreation and Public Property Department, says the Emerald Ash Borer is a wood boring insects that lay eggs inside ash trees. These eggs turn into larvae that tunnel their way throughout the conductive tissue of the tree, effectively cutting off the tree’s supply of water and nutrients.
Tomasek says this ultimately causes the death of the tree. In Council Bluffs, staff have been evaluating all the public ash trees on a 12-point system.
"This includes recording the tree’s location, its structure, removability of the tree, the impact that tree has on adjacent property and the condition of the tree. Trees with low evaluations, closer to zero than 12, are considered really great trees. Those are our healthiest ash trees in the city. And trees that have the higher ratings are good removal candidates.”
Tomasek says the Parks Department will only remove 29 trees. She says 97% of the city’s ash trees will be treated. Treatments can include anything from injections to soil trenching depending on the tree’s location.
Tomasek says the city hasn’t decided what treatment options they will use yet.
Information on options for property owners who have ash trees is available online at CouncilBluffsEAB.com.