Last fall, you may recall the city applied for, and received, a $23,000 matching grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for combating the emerald ash borer.
Well, that work is set to begin soon.
The South Milwaukee City Council voted 7-1 last week to seek bids for work on the effort, which includes:
- A computer-based tree inventory, providing details (type, health, etc.) on all trees in the public right of way (perhaps 10,000);
- Development of urban forest management and EAB management plans; and
- Potential public information materials.
I’m happy to see we’re moving ahead here and at least gaining the baseline of information we need as a City Council to make informed decisions about how to best address the EAB.
At this point, even though I’m no arborist, I’m going to assume the EAB is in South Milwaukee. It’s been reported to be in communities all around us, most recently in Greenfield and Greendale. It’s been in Oak Creek for some time.
Soon, the question in South Milwaukee will become: What role should the city play in fighting it, and how aggressive should we be? It’s a debate many communities are having, and I welcome it here.
We’re a bit late to the game, but at least we’re in the game.
I’ll keep you posted.
South Milwaukee Blog 
Eric-if grant money supports mapping exisiting trees in city-owned and ROW properties, what happens in Grant Park, which is Milwaukee County owned? 7-1 … who voted against?
I voted no. Here’s why. We have no evidence of emerald ash borer disease in the city. I consistently make my votes based on how I feel the taxpayers would want their money spent. While $23,000 may not seem like much to some, it is to me. Just to expand on that a bit, I take the entire $46,000 into account as it is ultimately ALL taxpayers money. Also, this plan doesn’t end with identification, then what? What services should be cut to accommodate this costly never ending program?
Absolutely good points. We are going to have some hard decisions to make if and when the tree survey is done and we consider options to actually address EAB. Most of those options will cost money. Of course, doing nothing is an option too. It should be an interesting debate.
Peggy: To answer your other question, our tree survey (and plan) will only address trees in the city right of way. I don’t know what, if anything, the county is doing, but I will ask Supervisor Jursik. I’m worried what could happen to the Grant Park canopy long term.
Peggy: I asked Pat Jursik for some more information on the county’s plans, and she provided this link, which provides a good summary …
Click to access EAB%20Milwaukee%20County_Brian%20Zimmerman.pdf
She also pledged to get back to me with more specific information to Grant Park, and I’ll follow up.
That information is 3 years old. I’d be curious to know what exactly they have done off their list and how much the county has spent.
Me too.
The statement, “We have no evidence of emerald ash borer disease in the city” is, on the surface, seemingly accurate. Of course, lacking a dedicated Forestry department, would one be surprised that South Milwaukee has not located the EAB that currently plagues nearby communities that do employ technically skilled foresters: the City of Oak Creek, Greenfield, Greendale, and Racine(?) These localities report the borer because they have staff on the ground doing the research. Anyone who has studied this issue will have found that it is scientfically realistic to expect that South Milwaukee will find this borer in short order given its historic rapidity of spread. Regarding County efforts to identify and eradicate EAB, a report detailing that will be available on Sunday, March 10th at the Grant Park Clubhouse. The Friends of Grant Park will provide that information and more about county work to control invasive species like the Emerald Ash Borer. For more information on all the work being done by the county in Grant Park, one may visit the following report: http://county.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cntyParks/Planning/naturalareas/AnnualReport2012.pdf
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