Emerald Ash Borer Resources

This page of resources will be an evolving document supplementing our listserve postings. For an overview of emerald ash borer and its effects on the town of Norwich, please visit our main overview page. Additionally, a one page synopsis prepared by the NCC emerald ash borer sub-committee is available for download and in hard copy at Tracy Hall, Post Office, and elsewhere around Norwich. A collection of photos with captions (below) illustrates this material.

Treatment of Ash Trees

Healthy or lightly-infested ash trees can be treated for protection against EAB, in cases where the tree(s) are deemed to be of high value for aesthetic or other reasons. Injecting a small amount of pesticide (e.g., Emamectin benzoate) directly into the stem during the growing season is the most effective and safe method of protection. Treatment costs roughly $200-500 per tree every two years, with price primarily influenced by the tree diameter. Application must be done by a Vermont Certified Pesticide Applicator. NOTE that treatment is most-effectively done during the growing season, before mid-September.

NCC recommends the following arborists, as they use the safest, most-effective treatment (Emamectin benzoate), rather than insecticides with neonicotinoids as active ingredients:

Chippers: Cal Felicetti cal@chippersinc.com

Strategic Vegetation Management: Pete Butler petebutlersvms@gmail.com
Timber Tender: Justin Romero justin@timbertender.com

These websites contain additional information on treatment:

Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program – insecticide application FAQ
Industry fact sheet on injection treatment
VTDigger article on ash treatment from June 2024

Links to Non-NCC Websites

Planting replacement trees provides a collection of useful information from the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program about selecting, planting, and purchasing trees to replace ash killed by EAB.
Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) is a comprehensive framework for an EAB invasion to achieve ash species conservation and EAB mitigation.
Our Vermont Woods is a comprehensive forest-information website developed by University of Vermont Extension and Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation

EAB Community Outreach Messages Distributed on the Norwich Listserve

1 June 2024: Initial update and overview
3 June 2024: Call for input, links to information
19 June 2024: Announcement of meeting with Urban Forester Adam McCollough
30 June 2024: Treatment information and contacts
18 August 2024: Reminder to consider treatment by mid-September

Photos

Click to see a larger version, with caption.

EAB-infested White Ash showing furrowed structure of bark and underlying sinuous galleries created by feeding larvae. Several D-shaped exit holes made by emerging adults are also visible.

Bark of a healthy Black Ash (13” diameter) along the Bill Ballard Trail. The bark of this species feels soft and distinctly cork-like.

Two compound leaves of a White Ash, which typically have an odd number of 5-9 leaflets arranged on either side of the stem (i.e., pinnately compound).

Emerald ash borers mating on the bark surface of the ash shown in image #8.

Sinuous galleries created beneath White Ash bark by feeding larvae; several D-shaped exit holes made by emerging adults are also visible.

A typical D-shaped exit hole created by an emerging adult EAB, adjacent to holes likely created by a woodpecker seeking larvae to eat. Photo taken at about 4 feet above ground level on the tree shown in the next photo.

Ash tree with rather uniform canopy dieback (thinning) due to an EAB infestation. The tree was subsequently cut while the wood was still solid.

Nearly-dead ash within the town right-of-way (ROW) along Elm Street, showing extensive canopy dieback.

Three dead or dying White Ash along Tucker Hill Road, in close proximity to the utility wires and within the town right-of-way (ROW) of the road.

Healthy (left) and dead (right) ash trees of similar size along Tucker Hill Road.

Healthy ash tree near the bandstand on Marion Cross school property, treated by stem injection with Emamectin benzoate.

$An EAB-killed ash in which the wood cracked and became brittle; the horizontal crack is a fracture – not a cut – which may have led to breakage of the trunk and the tree falling across power lines into a road.$