City Confirms Presence of Emerald Ash Borer in Port

Editor's note: Information taken from a press release provided by the city of Port Washington.

On Friday, June 15, the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) was identified and confirmed in the 400 block of North Powers Street. Port Washington now joins a growing list of Wisconsin communities where the insect has been detected.

Residents should be aware that it is illegal to move firewood out of an EAB quarantined area, as that is the primary means for the EAB to spread.  It is best to keep firewood onsite. Homeowners who would like more information on EAB and the quarantine area, or are interested in determining whether they have an Ash tree on their property and information on how they may protect it from the EAB should visit the State of Wisconsin’s official website, www.emeraldashborer.wi.gov, and click on the link for Homeowners.  Additional information on the EAB is also available at City Hall.

In preparation for the EAB, Port Washington was one of the first Wisconsin communities to place a moratorium on planting Ash trees along city streets, dating back to 2005. Since 2002, the City has also aggressively planted new street trees, increasing the total number of street trees from approximately 5,000 trees in 2001, to more than 8,000 trees in 2012.  As a percentage, Ash trees comprise 14% of the City’s street trees, (approximately 1,100 trees) with an estimated value of $700,000.  The total value of all the street trees exceeds $4 million.  Also since 2001, the City has increased the diversity of its street tree inventory and now contains over 50 different tree species.  

The emerald ash borer is a major threat to Wisconsin’s trees.  Our state contains more than 770 million ash trees.  In all urban areas, it is estimated that one out of every five trees is an ash.  With the arrival of the EAB and its potential threat to ash trees, the goal of any urban forest is to achieve tree diversity.  Striving to have no more than 10% of any one species is a creditable goal for any urban forest population.  Once present in an area, the EAB kills all untreated ash trees within a few years.  Even young, healthy ash trees are killed within 3 – 5 years of infestation.  Whenever making the choices for EAB prevention and treatment, homeowners and commercial industries should review the latest research and decision-making tools available.