Strongsville Gets Grant to Replace Ash Trees

The city has received a $26,250 grant from the state to replace ash trees stricken by a tiny predator on two streets. 

Ash trees on Misty Lake Drive and Winding Trail will be removed this year and replaced with Blackgum and Princeton Elm, respectively, because the Emerald Ash Borer has reared its deadly head. 

"The (ash) trees on those streets are already becoming infected," said Jennifer Milbrandt, the city's arborist. "Once one gets it, the next one will."

Strongsville sought a $35,000 matching grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to replace infested ash trees on three streets --  North Inlet Drive, Misty Lake Drive and Winding Trail.

But ODNR awarded 75 percent of that figure in an effort to spread the grants among all 43 of the communities across the state that applied for them, meaning Strongsville had to cut back the scope of its project from three streets to two.

Milbrandt said a citywide survey showed that Misty Lake and Winding Trail had the most ash trees on their tree lawns. Only trees in the city's right-of-way will be replaced.

Emerald Ash Borers, first spotted in Ohio in 2003, lay their eggs in crevices of the bark. When the larva hatch, they burrow under the bark and feed underneath from fall to spring. The tunneling obstructs the tree's vascular system, limiting food and water, and eventually kills branches and then the whole tree.

Milbrandt said Strongsville has been monitoring the spread of the green insects for several years.

"You can actually see the progression as you travel the Ohio Turnpike in the summer.   Most of the trees located on both sides of the road are ash trees – as you travel west, you'll notice more dead trees," Milbrandt said. 

About 5 percent of Strongsville's urban forest, which includes 15,000 street and park trees, are ash trees -- about 750 trees. Milbrandt said the infestation has spread pretty much throughout the city.

The city will match the grant with money from its Shade Tree Fund to remove about 125 ash trees on the two streets and replace them with new varieties about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

"They're going to be nice-sized trees," Milbrandt said.

She said Princeton Elms are shade trees found in Washington D.C. in front of the Capitol; Blackgums are also shade trees that display "beautiful fall colors." 

City Council voted Monday to accept the grant. Milbrandt said she will now get quotes for removing the ash trees and planting the new ones.

The Cleveland Metroparks encountered its first confirmed EAB investation in October 2008 along Big Creek Parkway south of Bagley Road.

According to the Metroparks, the destructive exotic beetle from Asia was first discovered in July 2002 feeding on ash trees in southeastern Michigan, probably arriving in wooden packing material at a harbor near Detroit. More than 3,000 square miles in southeastern Michigan are infested, with more than six million ash trees dead or dying there.

Authorities believe a key to spreading the EAB is by moving firewood and have placed quarantines on counties where the pest has turned up. The Ohio Department of Agriculture has placed Cuyahoga County in a firewood quarantine, and the Metroparks has outlawed moving firewood anywhere within the parks at any time.

Also, firewood, tree trimmings and other debris is not allowed to be dumped in the Cleveland Metroparks.

Signs of EAB infestation are an increase in woodpecker activity (they feed on the larva); dead branches near the top of trees and leaf shoots growing out of the base; and D-shaped holes in the trunk. If trees on your property display any of the symptoms, contact the ODA.