Just when we thought our trees were safe, another threat is looming.
For many Crookston residents, the mere mention of Dutch Elm Disease leaves a bad taste in their mouths. Its devastation is still being felt, as thousands of elm trees have had to be removed since the elm bark beetle was first introduced to the city in the early 1970s. Although the city now has a handle on the disease – not eradicated, just controlled – it's come at a great expense, both financially and aesthetically, to the community.
Now comes the emerald ash borer, which poses an even greater threat with the potential to wipe out the thousands of green ash trees planted throughout the city when retired City Administrator Ray Ecklund started the tree program in the 1970s. The destructive insect has not yet made its way up here, but was found in the Twin Cities area last year and is expected to arrive in this area at some point. And with the largest concentration of ash trees in the country, Minnesota has much to protect.
“We want to be proactive and nip this thing in the bud before it becomes a problem, with early preparation and training,” he said. “Once we do find it, we can immediately eradicate those trees to prevent it from spreading.”
Ecklund is organizing a committee of six to 12 volunteers, who will be trained by Gary Johnson, University of Minnesota Extension assistant specialist in urban and community forestry, later this month. The training sessions, to be arranged according to the volunteers' preferences, will equip them with everything they need to know about EAB and how to inventory ash trees. The trained volunteers can then work with others in the community to fight the insect's infestation.
“I can't stress enough the importance of this, financially and for beautification,”said Ecklund. “If the emerald ash borer gets established in the city, it will put great stress on the city's already depleted budgets.”
He recalled how Dutch Elm Disease entered Crookston in the early 1970s: A woman who moved here from Kansas brought some firewood with and stored it in her garage. Unbeknownst to her, an elm bark beetle was lurking among the logs. By the time it was discovered, the garage was fumigated and the wood destroyed, but the beetle had already left its mark by spreading to live trees.
As the city's forester at the time, it was Ecklund's job to check all the elm trees in town, including those on private property, and inform the owners that they must removed the diseased trees within 15 days. Both the trees and stumps had to be removed, he said, and when the property owners were unable to pay for this, the city was stuck with the bill.
Crookston is still fighting to ward off Dutch Elm, but because “there's not many elm trees around anymore, the elm beetle doesn't have them to feed on,” he added.
Anyone will to help with the EAB fight can contact Parks & Recreation Director Scott Kleven at 281-1242 or Ecklund at 281-1229.
