Insect decimates Middlebury’s ash trees

Dead ash trees ring the parking lot at Town Hall. This view from Shepardson field shows some of the dead trees and their missing bark. (Marjorie Needham photo)

#Middlebury #EmeraldAshBorer

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Middlebury’s Department of Public Works (DPW) head, Dan Norton said, “Ash trees are going the way of the elms. DEEP says within 12 years of finding emerald ash borers in a town, 100 percent of the untreated ash trees will be dead.” Middlebury was in the second group of towns hit by the insect, which was found in Prospect in 2012.

Dan Weise of Weise Choice Tree Service thinks the outlook here in Middlebury, where the insect was found in 2013, is dismal; he thinks most of our ash trees will be dead or beyond saving in two to three years. He said, “It’s very rare for us to find an ash tree (in Middlebury) that is healthy enough to treat. Last year, we found only two ash trees in Middlebury that were healthy enough to treat.”

However, he encourages homeowners to consult an arborist, “It’s never too late to have someone come out and look at a tree,” he said, explaining that it’s only by looking at a specific tree that an arborist can see how vigorous it looks.

Middlebury has so many dead ash trees on town rights of way that Norton had to request $100,000 in funding over and above his current budget so his department could start taking down the trees before they fall and injure someone or cause property damage. Norton estimates 500 trees will have to come down.

He based that estimate on what he calls a windshield survey he and a DPW employee did this past summer as they were driving down roads that were being paved as part of the town’s capital project. He said they saw 261 dead or dying ash trees on 25 percent of the town’s roads (state roads are not the town’s responsibility).

If 261 trees were on 25 percent of the roads, we asked, why didn’t he believe we had 1,000 trees in all? He explained the roads on which the survey was done are outlying roads, roads that don’t have dense housing as in subdivisions or the roads closer to the center of town. When you get into those areas, there are fewer trees overall. And, he said, “People don’t plant ash trees. They plant dogwoods and maples.” His estimated total is a combination of areas where there are lots of ash trees and areas where there are few or no ash trees.

The town has elected to treat two ash trees, the huge one overlooking the lower parking lot at Shepardson Community Center and one at Fenn Farm. Weise’s company is treating the Shepardson tree and said it seems to be responding well. Weise said the treatment, a systemic insecticide, is applied every other year over a 10-year period, and his company is treating 125 to 150 trees.

He said it is very important to take down a dead ash tree before it falls down. He said ashes are more brittle and drier than other trees, and they just fall apart after they die. “Don’t wait to have a tree removed that’s dead. It’s going to be getting more and more dangerous … If you put it off, it will be more expensive,” he said. His company already has had to remove fallen ash trees from houses, sheds and playground equipment, but thus far no cars.

Norton recognizes the danger the dead trees pose and is moving forward with a plan to deal with them. The tree crew that was part of the public works department for many years is being revived. Those currently working on tree removal were informally trained in-house by former employees with tree experience.

Now they will be formally trained by Arbor Master. As you drive around town March 26 to 29, you may see them going through the training because Norton said it will involve actually taking down trees around town. The town has had a tree truck (bucket truck), chipper and saws for many years, and has been using that equipment for storm cleanup.

Once the employees complete the training, Norton said he expects they will be able to safely remove all but a very small percentage of the dead trees. “I’m going to have my crew take down everything we can safely take down,” he said. He said about 5 percent of the dead trees will be too dangerous for even trained town employees and an outside contractor will deal with them.

Norton said if you drive down South Street past the intersection with Long Meadow, you will see stands of dead ash trees on either side of the road. One way to spot the dead trees is they have lost the smallest twigs on their branches. Weise said those are the first to die and fall off.

But he also said you can spot dead or dying ash trees from a distance by looking for “blonding.” This is bark that looks lighter because woodpeckers going after the Emerald Ash Borer larvae under the bark have knocked off the darker outer layer of bark. “Look into the woods,” he said, “and the tree will almost look like it’s glowing.” He said you’ll also find a ring of bark pieces knocked off by the woodpeckers at the base of the tree.

First Selectman Edward B. St John said of the town’s dead ash trees, “When the leaves come back on the trees this spring, people are going to be shocked.” The dead ash trees should really stand out then.

Norton, whose tree budget was $3,800, now has $100,000, approved at a special town meeting, to start dealing with dead tree removal. St. John said he wanted to see how far this first $100,000 would go – how many trees could be taken down for that amount – before he projected the cost of taking down the rest of the dead trees.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection website offers a wealth of information on the Emerald Ash Borer. Find it at bit.ly/2CNCkWZ.