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Emerald Ash BorerMunicipal Guide A Reference for Protecting Trees and Communities

EMERALD ASH BORER

Little Insect,Big ProblemUpon initial discovery of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in

the United States, nobody was quite sure how to handle

it. Most municipalities’ initial reactions were to remove

the food source for the EAB by cutting down all ash

trees. Given the large percentage ash tree comprised

of many urban forests, it was quickly realized that

removing all the ash trees had significant costs beyond

just the dollars allocated for cutting and chipping.

Trees are one of the few assets than increase in value

over time. Mature trees are worth significantly more to

a community than newly planted, small trees in terms

of air quality, storm water retention, shade, and other

benefits. Preserving healthy, mature ash trees has

become the primary focus for today’s EAB management

strategies.

Economic models have been developed that help predict

the costs associated with different management

strategies. Proper municipal EAB management is

about minimizing financial burden while maximizing

preservation of secondary tree benefits. In most cases,

a tree can be protected for at least 20 years for the

same cost of removal! Additionally, by preserving the

tree, you are preserving all of those secondary benefits

that would be lost with a smaller, newly planted tree.

The loss of trees from emerald ash borer can have a significant impact on the neighborhoods it infests

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Although EAB is wide spread throughout the USA, it is not common to see a live adult in a tree.

2 Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements

OVERVIEW

An Invasive PestEmerald ash borer (EAB) is an invasive pest from Asia that threatens the ash tree population in the United States. Across the country, it has killed millions of trees since its discovery in 2002.

Through a combination of natural spread and human activity, EAB has now been found in 35 states across the United States with new detections happening every month. It will continue to spread and destroy all the native ash trees in the U.S. that are not protected.

Emerald ash borer is deadly to ash trees because the larvae feed right under the bark. This is where a tree conducts water and nutrients from its root system up to the leaves. As the number of larvae increase, more of the tissue becomes damaged which blocks the flow of water and nutrients, thus resulting in tree death.Visual symptoms of an EAB infestation often take a few years to manifest themselves adding to the challenge of effective management.

EAB NativeRange

EAB kills ash trees as its larvae consume the water and nutrient-conducting tissue beneath the bark

A Community-Wide IssueThe impact of emerald ash borer is not just felt by a forestry or natural resources department. Emerald ash borer is an unprecedented ecological event and has been called a natural disaster in slow motion.

Beyond the loss of trees, EAB creates public safe-ty hazards, wreaks havoc on budget plans, and has widespread impacts wherever it is found. Ash trees are so numerous in many communities that the cost of their loss will be much greater than the price of cutting them down. Mature trees help mitigate urban heat effects while making neighborhoods safer and more desirable to live in relative to neighborhoods that lack mature trees. On average, an entire gener-ation is necessary in order to replace the loss of ma-ture canopy with new plantings, thus preservation of existing canopy generally makes more ecological and economical sense than removals alone.

EAB QUICK FACTS: • EAB is an invasive insect imported from Asia • First arrived in Michigan in the late 1990's

• EAB is now widespread, found throughout the range of native ash trees

• All native ash species can be killed by EAB

• Treatments are available and have been proven effective

USA Ash NativeRange

EAB InvasiveRange

Learn More and Buy Direct at www.treecarescience.com 3

Easy-to-Access Public Trees

A Community-Eye View

Protecting the HerdManaging emerald ash borer at the community-level is not about saving every tree.

Trees in natural areas and difficult-to-access areas would be challenging to treat, but

many would be even more challenging to remove. A boulevard may have a dozen mature

ash while a few acres of community forest may have hundreds of mature trees that

would present a more costly and involved management process. However, experience

from EAB-infested communities has shown that protecting the high value and easy-

access trees has a positive effect on the entire local ash population by reducing the

number of insects likely to spread to additional trees.

High value trees that are publicly-owned along boulevards, parks, schools, and government buildings are amongst the easiest for municipalities to take action on and can be used to inform the public.

• Protecting easy-to-access trees helps protect more difficult-to-access trees

• Ribboning programs on public trees raise awareness for citizens to take action

• Utilize public trees for events and demonstrations for education


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Wooded natural areas can contain hundreds to thousands of difficult-to-access trees that can provide challenges to communities. Focusing mitigation efforts on the rest of the population outside of this area can have a positive impact on these trees and reduce the need for removal.

• Focus protection or removals on trees near trails, campsites, and pavilions

• Partner with local mills or wood use programs for re-purposing timber

• Have a plan for disposal and removals

Privately owned trees can represent a significant portion of the ash trees found in a community. Programs promoted by municipalities can encourage homeowners to take action and help protect the entire community’s canopy.

• Encourage homeowners to take action on their ash trees: removal or protection

• Provide homeowners with resources for finding local certified arborists

• Partner with treatment contractors to offer discounted treatment rates

Difficult-to-Access Public Trees

Privately Owned Trees


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Years After EAB Infestation Establishment

Num

bers

of R

emov

als

Annual Ash Tree Removal Rates

Protecting mature ash trees costs less than removing them and provide more benefits to a community than newly planted trees.

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

Reactive Management

Proactive Management

AnnualRemoval Capacity

Removing significant numbers of trees has costs to a community beyond just cutting them down

Budgeting and Planning

City Budgets Under AttackEmerald Ash Borer not only attacks trees, it attacks the budgets of local governments—budgets that are increasingly stressed by competing demands from the communities they serve.

Yet when it comes to EAB, the time to act is now —before the infestation exponentially increases in population, and tree deaths escalate. As the pest population increases and a greater number of trees die, the number of management options goes down.

“Save the best, replace the rest” is a slogan that accurately summarizes the overall best strategy for the environment and for a city’s budget. On average, a city can protect a mature, healthy ash tree for more than

20 years for the cost of removing and replacing it. More importantly, protection preserves 3-4 times the environmental, economic, and human health benefits that were the reason the city planted the tree in the first place.

Managing the EAB infestation includes many variables that affect city budgets. The proximity and intensity of the infestation will affect the urgency of action and how best to balance investment strategies.

The local government that delays action or relies on a reactive, removals-only approach may be overwhelmed with dying and hazardous trees. Past experience shows that in places where no actions were taken, approximately 80% of the untreated ash trees were dead by the eighth year of the infestation, and most of those deaths occurred in years 4-8. The peak years of the infestation generated what some called a “wall of wood.” It doesn’t have to be this way. Science-based, proactive strategies can cut costs and debris volumes by a third, as well as shrink and flatten the curve of debris removal over a period of 6 or more years instead of the 4 peak years.


BENEFIT

ImproveQuality of

the Air

BENEFIT

ReducedStormwater

Runoff

BENEFIT

RaiseProperty

Values

BENEFIT

ReducedEnergyCosts

BENEFIT

DecreaseUrban

Heat Islands

BENEFIT

ImproveMentalHealth

Mature Tree BenefitsMature trees make neighborhoods cooler, safer, and more desirable to live in. Trees play a vital role in urban ecosystems, providing wildlife habitat, water retention, and improving air quality. Maintaining an existing mature tree canopy provides significantly greater benefits to a community than removal and replacement.

$8

$7

$6

$5

$4

$3

$2

$1

$0Year 10 Year 20

Return on Investment per Dollar Spent

Protecting all the matureash trees

Removing and replacing 50% ash trees and protecting 50% ash trees

Removing and replacing all ash trees

EAB Management

Pay Now, Save LaterThe cost to treat or remove is not the only consideration that municipalities should use for determining to treat or not to treat the trees in their community. Ecological and environmental benefits that mature trees provide are significant and municipalities now have urban tree assessment tools to help quantify these ecosystem benefits as well.

Protecting mature ash trees provides a greater return on investment for the community than newly planted trees.

Years 0 5 10 15 20

minimal benefit to the community

maximum benefit to the community

Protecting mature ash trees provides a greater benefits over the same amount of time than removing and replacing the mature ash trees with new trees.


A healthy ash tree will transport waterthrough the current year’s growth ring.

The larvae of the beetles eat the growth rings under the bark of the tree. Symptoms can take several years to appear.

A heavily infested tree can no longer transport water and the top dies. The beetles will move on to the next ash tree.

Preserving What is Here

Saving Mature TreesThe bad news is that all native ash trees are susceptible to emerald ash borer. The good news is that there are scientifically-backed treatments available to protect mature trees from this deadly insect.

Focusing treatments on the protection of mature trees is vital to a successful program as these large trees provide the most benefit to the community. Mature trees provide shade that contributes to everything from lower street maintenance costs to improved mental health for citizens. Large trees provide habitat for wildlife, reduce stormwater runoff, raise property values, and decrease the carbon footprint of a community. In short, mature trees are contributing to municipalities in numerous economic and sociological ways.

The larger the tree, the greater the benefits. Conversely, larger trees also require more resources for removal and disposal. This is the reason that preservation and protection should be focused on saving the larger, more mature trees in the urban forest.


Mectinite treatments are dosed based upon the diameter of the tree at breast height. Each tree is individually measured.

Small holes are drilled at the root flare of the tree. Tees are inserted and the system is pressurized to move the treatment into the tree.

Each tree takes about 5-10 minutes to set up, and just a few minutes for Mectinite to move into the tree. Mectinite treatments protect the tree for at least 2 seasons.

Science-Backed TreatmentsNot all emerald ash borer treatments are created equally. Research and field experience has shown that MECTINITE® (4% emamectin benzoate) provides the fastest uptake available, allowing crews to protect more trees in the same amount of time as other products. When applied through the IQ TREE INJECTION suite of tools, these treatments provide at least 2 years of ash tree protection without causing long-term damage to the trees seen with other application devices.

Research has also shown the formulation utilized in MECTINITE provides better distribution of the treatment within the tree compared to other products,

When creating RFP specs for contractors, it is important to specify treatments that provide the most protection against EAB while causing the least amount of possible damage.


Speaking from ExperienceRainbow has been at the forefront of EAB research and management from the beginning. Rainbow is uniquely one of the countries largest independent tree care companies and one of the only product development firms dedicated to arboriculture. This allows Rainbow a scientific understanding of the issue with the operational know-how to develop the necessary application tools.

Rainbow Treecare• Founded in 1976 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market• Partnerships with 30+ local municipalities • Currently there are over 50,000 ash trees under protection through these programs

Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements• Founded in 1997 to focus on tree science nationwide• Develop treatments, application equipment, and management protocols• Research in collaboration with arborists, universities, and municipalities

1990’sEmerld ash borer arrives in the US

2000’sAsh trees begin to die in

Michigan. Infestations start to spread to other

states.

2004Rainbow partners with Ohio State to begin evaluation of different therapeutic and preventive treatments

20085 Universities publish official treatment recommendations including Rainbow’s products

2009Rainbow hosts the

first EAB Symposium for Municipal

Management after its discovery in the

Twin Cities, MN

2011Rainbow continues EAB research focused on treatment timing and rates

2013iQ Tree Injection suite created, the fastest plugless application devices available

2014Mectinite formulation introduced, creating faster treatments without a Restricted Use Pesticide label

2017Municipal partnerships begin offering

discounted treatments for cities and residents in the Twin Cities, MN

2020 + BeyondResearch is continuing on new products, equipment, rates and timings. Hundreds of municipalities are using Mectinite in their treatment plans not only in the Twin Cities, MN, but throughout the country.

RAINBOW & EMERALD ASH BORER

70+research trials on eab since 2004, focusing on treatments, rates, and timing

25+different University and public-sector research partners with EAB trials

30+municipal partnerships for protecting public and private trees in the Twin Cities, MN


What are the Next Steps?

INVENTORYEvery emerald ash borer management plan starts with the quantity, location, and condition of your ash population. If your city has a current tree inventory we can assist with interpreting the data to begin de-veloping a plan.

PLANNINGOnce you know the state of your current ash tree inventory, Rainbow can help you design a manage-ment strategy that takes into account the severity of the threat, your canopy goals, your public aware-ness program and a timeline of the steps that will occur along the way.

BUDGETAll decisions around municipal management of EAB are dictated by budgets. We utilize your community tree inventory data to help give you accurate budget projections for now and future years. We can demon-strate the differences in cost and secondary bene-fits from different management strategies involving removal and treatment of trees.

BID REQUESTSSubmitting RFP’s for emerald ash borer services can be a daunting process whether it be for treatments or removals. There are many technical details involved that may exclude certain bidders and limit your options. Our experienced team can assist in putting together RFP language to ensure you get the bids you want.

TCIA and ISA offer homeowners’ resources to find a qualified tree care professional

Taking ActionIf your community has ash trees, emerald ash borer will require you to take action. The first step is determining the scope of the issue in your community and this starts with a tree inventory. The inventory will inform the management strategy and ultimately determine the budget. Often, the scope of work is greater than can be accomplished with in-house staff and requires putting work out to bid for contractors.

Partnering with ArboristsHomeowners with ash trees will have questions about what to do and who to call. Experience has shown that they are often reaching out to their city officials for recommendations and referrals. EAB is a great opportunity for municipalities to educate property owners on the benefits of working with a professional tree care service provider and the risks of hiring under-qualified persons to perform tree work. The Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) and International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) offer great resources for finding a qualified professional in any market.


Additional ResourcesThe recommendations and management protocols used by Rainbow are the industry standard and are backed by published scientific research. Below are some citations with additional information. If you are seeking a study or a citation for a specific need, please contact us and we can assist in getting you that information.

Resources from RainbowRainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements. (2019), Mectinite. Retrieved from: https://www.treecarescience.com/pdf/Insecticides/Mectinite_Specimen_Label.pdf

Emerald Ash Borer Diagnostic Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.treecarescience.com/tree-problems/insects-mites/emerald-ash-borer-diagnostic-guide

Mectinite Product Guide. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.treecarescience.com/wp-content/up-loads/2019/06/Mectinite-Product-Sheet.pdf

RainbowTreeScience. (2020, April 16). Management Strategies for Emerald Ash Borer [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1ZbdX2tOSbA

RainbowTreeScience. (2020, April 21). A Case Study: EAB Management from a Municipal Perspective [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Ehp4h0wQf-8

Resources from Peer-Reviewed PublicationsBick, E. N., Forbes, N. J., Haugen, C., Jones, G., Bernick, S., & Miller, F. (2018). Seven-year evaluation of insecti-cide tools for emerald ash borer in Fraxinus pennsylvanica (Lamiales: Oleaceae) trees. Journal of economic entomology, 111(2), 732-740.

Herms, D. A., & McCullough, D. G. (2014). Emerald ash borer invasion of North America: history, biology, ecolo-gy, impacts, and management. Annual review of entomology, 59, 13-30.

McCullough, D. G., & Mercader, R. J. (2012). Evaluation of potential strategies to SLow Ash Mortality (SLAM) caused by emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis): SLAM in an urban forest. International Journal of Pest Management, 58(1), 9-23.

McCullough, D. G., Poland, T. M., Anulewicz, A. C., Lewis, P., & Cappaert, D. (2011). Evaluation of Agrilus pla-nipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) control provided by emamectin benzoate and two neonicotinoid insecti-cides, one and two seasons after treatment. Journal of economic entomology, 104(5), 1599-1612.


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