Ash Tree Street Inventory Report Shandaken, NY

Transcription

1 Ash Tree Street Inventory Report Shandaken, NY Prepared by: Elizabeth D Auria The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development Arkville, NY 9/21/11

2 Introduction: The emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive beetle from Asia, has been decimating our country s ash tree population since its initial discovery in Michigan in As of 2011, EAB populations have been discovered in nine counties of New York including Ulster, Greene and Orange. It is known to kill all species of ash (Fraxinus spp) regardless of condition and threatens New York s 1.2 billion ash trees. EAB populations will inevitably spread to infest the ash tree stands within communities in the Catskill region and cause ample amounts of economic and environmental harm. A newly published study entitled, Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States (Aukema, et al) concludes that most of the costs associated with non-native forest insects are largely borne on municipal governments and homeowners. The article states, local government expenditures and residential property value losses were the two highest cost categories. In order to mitigate the expected costs to the community, there needs to be planning and preparation. In order to help communities prepare for the potential impacts of EAB on the health, safety, and economy of the community, the Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (CRISP) hosted by the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development (CCCD) is sponsoring the Community Ash Tree Street Inventory Project for 15 communities in the Catskill Region. Ash trees that become infested will die within 2-4 years of initial infestation becoming potentially hazardous to people and surrounding infrastructure. The governing municipality is liable for any tree planted within the public right-of-ways and is therefore responsible for the maintenance of these potentially hazardous trees. The purpose of this inventory project is to locate trees along public streets in order to enumerate the population of ash trees in the public right-of-way and gain insight into the potential costs of tree removal or preventative treatment. Options We are providing the results of this inventory to the Town of Shandaken so that they may become fully informed of the problem at hand and be able to make an appraisal of the situation. Essentially, the community has three options for dealing with their ash trees. Each option has advantages and disadvantages regarding costs, time commitments and overall impact to the streetscape. Whether the Town decides to stick with one option or an amalgamation of all three, the decision will need to be made rather quickly. The emerald ash borer is already nearby, if not already within the Town limits. Option 1: Preemptively remove any and all ash trees in public spaces regardless of their condition.

3 Reason: Removing all the ash trees in public spaces regardless of size or condition will make certain that no ash tree will cause any damage when EAB does infest the community in the nearby future. Cost: The initial cost could be upwards of $1000/tree depending on size and difficulty but, taking down the trees before they become infested would decrease any liabilities that a hazardous tree could cause in the future. Option 2: Preemptively treat healthy ash trees with preventative insecticide. Reason: Applying an insecticide to healthy ash trees would protect them from being infested therefore, preventing them from dying and becoming hazardous. This could decrease the Town s liability from hazardous tree accidents. Cost: Preventative treatment could become costly depending on how many trees the Town is trying to protect, how big the trees are, and the cost of a certified pesticide applicator. The insecticide injection will also need to be repeated every few years requiring a time commitment and should not be applied premature of an infestation. Option 3: Wait until EAB arrives and deal with the trees on a case by case basis. Reason: EAB has already been detected in the county; therefore, the community has no time to waste. The Town may not have the sufficient funds to deal with all the trees right now so they must prioritize which trees are most important for immediate action. Cost: The immediate cost would be insignificant but the forthcoming cost could become excessive when the trees become infested and start falling down, simultaneously. The Village s liability would be contingent on the degree of the infestation. Undoubtedly, the Town of Shandaken will need to make a decision and it could feasibly be a combination of these options that prove most economical for the community. Inventory Methodology The Town of Shandaken is one out of 15 communities prioritized for this inventory based on its distance from Ruby, NY the presumed epicenter of the local EAB infestation. The hamlets of Pine Hill and Phoenicia were chosen because of their core walkable community, street network, and their relatively dense population. In order to find volunteers we reached out to local community groups and newspapers around the Catskills to announce the event. The training session for the volunteers of the inventory was held at 6 PM on July 28 th at the Pine Hill Community Center. A total of 6 people attended and were trained in ash identification, EAB signs and symptoms, and inventory techniques. Both the Pine Hill and Phoenicia inventory took place on Saturday July 30 th, from 10 AM to 1 PM. A total of 7 people volunteered for the

4 inventory which involved walking up and down streets locating ash trees and recording the location with GPS units. The volunteers filled out datasheets with other tree characteristics such as size and condition. With the help of the volunteers all the map sections were completely inventoried for ash trees. Results A total of 131 ash trees were recorded for Pine Hill and Phoenicia by the volunteers. The graphs below depicts the quantity of trees found within each assigned diameter (at breast height, DBH) class for each hamlet. Almost half the trees recorded were 10 inches or less in diameter and almost 90% of the trees were 20 inches or less in diameter. The breakdown of DBH classes in these graphs will be most important for assessing costs determined by the diameter of the tree. A condition rating of at least a 3 was assigned to 90% (118) of the trees an implication that most of the trees in the community are generally healthy. There were only 14 trees with signs of either EAB damage (bark splitting, wood-peckering, exit holes, etc) or sign of a general stress (canopy dieback, epicormic branching, etc) and 61 % (83) of total trees were near an electrical wire. The stressed trees near wires pose the most threat to infrastructure because they are more likely to cause an array of damage if they were to fall. As a recommendation, these trees should be prioritized. Fig. 1 Trees within each DBH class Pine Hill 3% 43% 6% 48% 1-10 in in in 31+ in Total trees: 98 Number of trees within each DBH class located in Pine Hill.

5 Fig. 2 Trees within each DBH class Phoenicia 3% 41% 12% 44% 1-10 in in in 31+ in Total trees: 32 Number of trees within each DBH class located in Phoenicia. Planning Ahead The Town of Shandaken will need to make a decision regarding their ash trees in the nearby future. There has yet to be a detection of EAB in Shandaken but, the beetle has already infested ash trees within Ulster and the surrounding counties. The information presented in this document is meant to provide Shandaken with a baseline for the number of trees within two hamlet-centers and does not represent the total number of ash trees within the entire hamlet or the entire town. It will be the responsibility of the Town to conduct a full ash tree inventory in areas of most concern and to move forward in the process of dealing with them. This may seem like a costly decision but, if the community works together with surrounding communities the costs could be mitigated. For this reason, we are recommending that the communities within Ulster County create a County-Wide Task Force. The formation of this task force by town and village officials would be a proactive way for planning for EAB. Communities could pool their resources, whether it being disposal facilities, tree removal services, etc. We plan on assisting Shandaken any way we can in the formation of a task force and to help them prepare for the eminent arrival of EAB. The provided maps indicate the locations of the trees along the streets and the tables provide the data associated with each tree. The data is also stored in a GIS shapefile which can be provided to the Town if they wish.