Serving the East Calhoun Neighborhood

Tree Treatment Task Force 12/20/11 Meeting Minutes

Present: Nancy, Judd , Harvey, Les, Eric W, Gary F, Jay, Sarah, Scott Haenke (Rainbow Tree Care)

submitted by Nancy

We had asked Scott to come to offer his professional experience and opinions. The meeting was devoted to Q&A with Scott, and discussion of possible implications and actions for our neighborhood. Ralph Sievert, MPRB Forester, will attend our next meeting, Jan 17 (7pm, St Mary’s, meeting room 1) to discuss the same.

Info Update (not minutes): Unfortunately for us, there are meetings in the room next door and across the hall in Jan. It will be a bit noisy. Our meetings are also scheduled for Feb 21, March 20 and April 17. I reserved the large Terrace Room for April, so we can do a larger neighborhood meeting if we choose. We can also choose a different date if the committee decides to do so.

Comments fromScott Haenke:

~EAB can be in a tree for 5 years before detection.

~10” is the smallest treatable size. it’s hard to tell how old a tree is because stresses cause slower growth.

~Even if 30-35% infestation, the tree can still survive with treatment

~If 90% of trees are treated, it could save the trees IF they are consistently treated for 10+ yrs. This length of time is required because EAB will find host trees and survive, even if many trees are treated. It refers back to the difficulty in early stage detection.

~ Signs of EAB are lots of woodpecker activity, thin canopy and much sprouting at the base. D shaped holes are the last indicator, and very hard to see, as they tend to be high on the trunk.

~Predator wasps feed on larvae, but need a large existing food source (EAB infestation) to survive. These wasps do better in wetlands than other types of environments.

~The commercially injectable product “Tree-age” collects in the branches, rather than leaves. Scott did not think it would harm beneficial insects. It wounds the tree, which may weaken it over time, and is recommended every 2 yr. A 15” diameter tree would cost $150 if done individually, but it could be as low as $100 for a group rate. Scott did a ballpark estimate that it could cost $12,000 to treat all ECCO’s ash trees one time. Treatment could be done over 2 years, rather than all in the same calendar year. Scott will create cost projections using different possible treatments, after getting an accurate count and assessment of ECCO’s trees from MPRB.

~Scott predicts that most of Mpls will be significantly affected within 2-3 years.

He also recommends being very active on social media to get the word out, and to organize.

Right now, Minneapolis is replacing ash trees free of charge for anyone who wants that. ECCO’s existing NRP funds could provide 2 years of funding for this. The committee agreed that we want to propose subsidizing treatment, to make it attractive and affordable, and to coordinate it as a neighborhood.

We need to have more contact with MPRB on this, as there are many ash trees along the lake, and in parklands.

St Paul is taking down trees past their prime if within a 1 mile radius of EAB identification. They are treating trees in their prime, within the same radius.

“Wood from the Hood” is using some of it, but cannot use anything close to the amount of lumber that is possible. The economics of handling infected wood are staggering. Chipping it is not enough to prevent EAB from surviving. It must be ground up, costly and time consuming. And ash has never been high value wood. No clear answers here.

The overall sense of the group was support for the idea of creating a project that could be replicated in other areas.

Next steps:

Judd: Get GIS from Ralph Sievert, which will indicate tree species, size and health. Send to the committee.

Lois: Follow up with Milwaukee Park Board to find out more about what is happening there regarding cutting, treatment, any other preventive measures, and costs. Send to committee.

Tree Treatment Task Force 12/20/11 Meeting Minutes

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