Managing Emerald Ash Borer Through a Money and Urban Forestry Context

presented by Dr. Rich Hauer, Professor of Urban Forestry, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

60-minutes

Eligible for 1 CEU - A, U, M, 0.5 Bp, 0.5 Bm 

Maybe you are wondering what to do when faced with emerald ash borer (EAB)? Maybe you have a plan, but are questioning if you are n the right track. Well jump on board the EAB train and a destination to learn from the rich experience of municipalities and commercial application and their response to EAB. The first premise of EAB is whether you like it or not it will cost you money. However, as a municipal manager, commercial arborist, or as a practitioner, your job is to best mange the costs, but as important realize the benefits. Learn from the models we initially developed and since been replicated by several other research teams that retaining ash trees makes sense. We know well the ash tree benefits far outweigh the costs of EAB treatment programs. This talk will provide you a context of the economic ramifications and also how to spread the cost over time. We will look at the various treatment strategies and what they mean. You will also learn about a 20-year tree canopy and retention study in Wisconsin that shows a way to plan long-term on retaining tree canopy today while also planting today for canopy in the future. The EAB train left the station 20 years ago. But along he way has picked many academic and practitioners that have a plan that you can easily implement. It really is no different than the many municipal tree decisions you currently make, such as with removing low value trees, while finding ways to best manage your healthy ash tree population. Finally, you will see recent data on the long-term implications of tree injection and no spoiler alerts, must attend to learn these new discoveries.