According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press that city has decided to remove rather than treat its many ash trees:
City officials believe some 30,000 ash trees line its public boulevards and just as many could be situated on private property throughout St. Paul. The city has a general goal of removing 1,100 trees per year from public boulevards.Shortly after emerald ash borers were discovered, the city used a state grant to attack the problem by removing as many ash trees as possible, healthy or otherwise. Some residents have likened the result to deforestation of once-leafy streets.
Carla Riehle, a Fremont Avenue resident, saw most of the trees on nearby Atlantic Avenue and Third Street ripped out in 2010. She’s bracing for more of the same.”The loss was obvious and drastic,” Riehle wrote in an email. “The city did replant almost immediately, to its credit, but of course the replanted trees will take years to reach maturity.”
Thankfully the city of Rochester has decided to treat its ash population. Many of these trees will eventually be removed, but Rochester’s forward thinking will prevent the deforestation referred to in the St. Paul press.
