City arborist Dan Stone discusses the emerald ash borer problem with the city council during the council’s Oct. 15 work session in city hall.
JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown will be losing over 170 trees during the next couple months.
City arborist Dan Stone told the Jamestown City Council Monday night that the city will have take down 176 of its ash trees located along city right-of-ways around the city due to the invasive emerald ash borer.
The trees that are being removed are located on the terrace area of various streets around the city and include the vast majority of the 196 ash trees that have been planted in the city during the past 25 years.
The Emerald Ash borer is an insect originating from China that uses the ash tree as food when it is in the larval stage. The larva will burrow through the tree, cutting off food and water from reaching all areas of the tree causing it to eventually die.
There are other ash trees in Jamestown in private residential areas and Stone is asking residents to monitor those trees.
As for the city’s trees that will be removed, Stone said the city will either sell give the wood away as firewood after they are taken down, or turn them into wood chips for landscaping use on public property.
An Adult Emerald Ash Borer
The city is planning to replace the trees that are removed with a variety of other species, although that make take some time due to the cost associated with planting new trees. Officials say the cost of putting in a new tree is about $100, with much of the funding coming from the city’s forestry fund and the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation’s urban forestry fund.
In the past few years, the emerald ash borer has become more of a problem in the area. It’s an invasive species that was originally introduced in the Midwest by way of untreated lumber and pallets and was first detected in our area of New York State about a decade ago.
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