Politics & Government

Evanston Loses More Trees to the Emerald Ash Borer

Trees along Oakton and Sherman were the latest victims. The city's previous pattern of lumping one species together in certain areas can mean cutting whole blocks' worth of trees if an infestation strikes.

A row of tree stumps along Oakton Street and Sherman Avenue are the latest evidence of the emerald ash borers destructive presence in Evanston.

Roughly 50 trees were cut down near that intersection since last week, according to Paul D’Agostino, the city’s superintendant of parks/forestry and facilities management. All were infected with the non-native beetle that burrows into bark and causes ash trees to die.

The trees are among the nearly 300 infected ash that Evanston has cut down in the past year, D’Agostino said. More trees are tagged for removal, including ones along Main Street near the .

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D’Agostino said it’s not unheard of to have to cut whole blocks worth of ash trees, as happened at Oakton and Sherman. The problem, he explained, is that the city long ago decided to plant only one species in certain areas. So, if a blight or pest comes along that targets a single species, it not only can spread easily but it necessitates whole stretches of trees be removed at once.

“In some locations, I’m having to clear cut an entire block,” D’Agostino said.

Find out what's happening in Evanstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch looked into the question of why the trees were cut after readers wrote in reporting the loss of their valued neighborhood shade trees. D’Agostino said neighbors are alerted by mail ahead of time if there’s going to be cutting done by their homes.

According to a city webpage devoted to the emerald ash borer, the Asian beetle was discovered in Evanston in 2006, four years after it was confirmed to be living in the Midwest. The city has about 4,000 ash trees on public property, making up about 12 percent of its trees. There are many more ash trees on private property.

For information on how to combat the metallic green beetle or how to recognize symptoms of infection, you can check out the city’s informational page.


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