Category: Emerald Ash Borer

Emerald Ash Borer Information Session Rescheduled for Tuesday, April 17th

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The Emerald Ash Borer information program that was originally scheduled for March 20th and cancelled for inclement weather, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 17th, beginning at 6:30 pm.

So don’t Kiss Your Ash Goodbye, but come to the Ewing Environmental Commission’s April meeting to learn from the experts about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) threat, how it will affect your property, options for managing your ash trees, and potential solutions.

The Emerald Ash borer has been found in Ewing Township.  (See the Rutgers  EAB Rapid Ash Survey Report and Management Options, Prepared for the Township of Ewing, Mercer County , NJ, By The Rapid Ash Survey Team (RAST) October 2015.)  As this invasive pest can easily spread to neighboring trees, all residents should check their ash trees for symptoms of infestation.

“The emerald ash borer will kill 99 percent of all ash trees within the next few years,” said Bill Brash, the NJ State Certified Tree Expert with whom the EGT has been working about the EAB threat to the municipal tree canopy. “Residents should identify ash trees on their property and monitor for signs of damage or decline such as unusual woodpecker activity or missing bark.”

EAB Facts

Since the discovery of emerald ash borer in Michigan in 2002, the beetle has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America. In May 2014, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture confirmed New Jersey’s first detection of the emerald ash borer in Bridgewater in Somerset County, NJ.

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic green, non-native invasive pest. Trees can be infested for years before the tree begins to show symptoms of infestation. Symptoms include canopy dieback, woodpecker activity, missing bark, D-shaped exit holes, shoots sprouting from the trunk, and S-shaped larval galleries under the bark.

Ash Tree Management

If a tree is already infested or in poor health, it may be best to remove the tree before it becomes infested and poses a hazard to people and surrounding structures. But for those residents with high-value ash in good health, trees can be treated before they become infested.

A Certified Tree Expert can help residents evaluate, then treat or remove ash trees. Contact the Board of Certified Tree Experts at 732-833-0325 or njtreeexperts@gmail.com for a list of professionals serving your area.

Report any signs. If any signs of the EAB beetle are found, call the New Jersey Department of Agriculture at 609-406-6939. Visit http://www.emeraldashborer.nj.gov for more information and check out our own EAB resource page.

untitled-5This program is being provided by the Ewing EAB Partnership, a coalition composed of Ewing Green Team  and Environmental Commission members and representatives from Mercer County, Rutgers University and PSE&G under the direction of NJ State Certified Tree Expert Bill Brash.  It is funded by a 2016 PSE&G grant Partnering for the Restoration of the Community Forest: The 3P Plan, Partnerships-Plan-Planting which funded development of partnerships  to manage the spread and removals of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Borer on Ewing municipal lands.

Date: Tuesday, April 17th
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Ewing Senior and Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing
Details:  Free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Additional Information: Contact EGT Chair, Joanne Mullowney at 609-883-0862 or email: ewinggreenteam@gmail.com

Emerald Ash Borer Information Session – Tuesday, March 20th

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Don’t kiss your ash goodbye! Come to the Ewing Environmental Commission’s March meeting to learn from the experts about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) threat, how it will affect your property, options for managing your ash trees, and potential solutions.

The Emerald Ash borer has been found in Ewing Township.  (See the Rutgers  EAB Rapid Ash Survey Report and Management Options, Prepared for the Township of Ewing, Mercer County , NJ, By The Rapid Ash Survey Team (RAST) October 2015.)  As this invasive pest can easily spread to neighboring trees, all residents should check their ash trees for symptoms of infestation.

“The emerald ash borer will kill 99 percent of all ash trees within the next few years,” said Bill Brash, the NJ State Certified Tree Expert with whom the EGT has been working about the EAB threat to the municipal tree canopy. “Residents should identify ash trees on their property and monitor for signs of damage or decline such as unusual woodpecker activity or missing bark.”

EAB Facts

Since the discovery of emerald ash borer in Michigan in 2002, the beetle has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America. In May 2014, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture confirmed New Jersey’s first detection of the emerald ash borer in Bridgewater in Somerset County, NJ.

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic green, non-native invasive pest. Trees can be infested for years before the tree begins to show symptoms of infestation. Symptoms include canopy dieback, woodpecker activity, missing bark, D-shaped exit holes, shoots sprouting from the trunk, and S-shaped larval galleries under the bark.

Ash Tree Management

If a tree is already infested or in poor health, it may be best to remove the tree before it becomes infested and poses a hazard to people and surrounding structures. But for those residents with high-value ash in good health, trees can be treated before they become infested.

A Certified Tree Expert can help residents evaluate, then treat or remove ash trees. Contact the Board of Certified Tree Experts at 732-833-0325 or njtreeexperts@gmail.com for a list of professionals serving your area.

Report any signs. If any signs of the EAB beetle are found, call the New Jersey Department of Agriculture at 609-406-6939. Visit http://www.emeraldashborer.nj.gov for more information and check out our own EAB resource page.

untitled-5This program is being provided by the Ewing EAB Partnership, a coalition composed of Ewing Green Team  and Environmental Commission members and representatives from Mercer County, Rutgers University and PSE&G under the direction of NJ State Certified Tree Expert Bill Brash.  It is funded by a 2016 PSE&G grant Partnering for the Restoration of the Community Forest: The 3P Plan, Partnerships-Plan-Planting which funded development of partnerships  to manage the spread and removals of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Borer on Ewing municipal lands.

Date: Tuesday, March 20th
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Ewing Senior and Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing
Details:  Free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Additional Information: Contact EGT Chair, Joanne Mullowney at 609-883-0862 or email: ewinggreenteam@gmail.com

An Emerald Ash Borer Information Session

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Come to the Ewing Green Team’s February meeting to learn from the experts about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) threat, how it will affect your property, options for managing your ash trees, and potential solutions.

The Emerald Ash borer has been found in Ewing Township.  (See the Rutgers  EAB Rapid Ash Survey Report and Management Options, Prepared for the Township of Ewing, Mercer County , NJ, By The Rapid Ash Survey Team (RAST) October 2015.)  As this invasive pest can easily spread to neighboring trees, all residents should check their ash trees for symptoms of infestation.

“The emerald ash borer will kill 99 percent of all ash trees within the next few years,” said Bill Brash, the NJ State Certified Tree Expert with whom the EGT has been working about the EAB threat to the municipal tree canopy. “Residents should identify ash trees on their property and monitor for signs of damage or decline such as unusual woodpecker activity or missing bark.”

EAB Facts

eabinfosessionSince the discovery of emerald ash borer in Michigan in 2002, the beetle has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America. In May 2014, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture confirmed New Jersey’s first detection of the emerald ash borer in Bridgewater in Somerset County, NJ.

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic green, non-native invasive pest. Trees can be infested for years before the tree begins to show symptoms of infestation. Symptoms include canopy dieback, woodpecker activity, missing bark, D-shaped exit holes, shoots sprouting from the trunk, and S-shaped larval galleries under the bark.

Ash Tree Management

If a tree is already infested or in poor health, it may be best to remove the tree before it becomes infested and poses a hazard to people and surrounding structures. But for those residents with high-value ash in good health, trees can be treated before they become infested.

A Certified Tree Expert can help residents evaluate, then treat or remove ash trees. Contact the Board of Certified Tree Experts at 732-833-0325 or njtreeexperts@gmail.com for a list of professionals serving your area.

Report any signs. If any signs of the EAB beetle are found, call the New Jersey Department of Agriculture at 609-406-6939. Visit http://www.emeraldashborer.nj.gov for more information and check out our own EAB resource page.

untitled-5This program is being provided by the Ewing EAB Partnership, a coalition composed of Ewing Green Team  and Environmental Commission members and representatives from Mercer County, Rutgers University and PSE&G under the direction of NJ State Certified Tree Expert Bill Brash.  It is funded by a 2016 PSE&G grant Partnering for the Restoration of the Community Forest: The 3P Plan, Partnerships-Plan-Planting which funded development of partnerships  to manage the spread and removals of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Borer on Ewing municipal lands.

Date: Wednesday, February, 22nd, 2017
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Ewing Senior and Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing
Details:  Free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Additional Information: Contact EGT Co-Chair, Joanne Mullowney at 609-883-0862 or email: ewinggreenteam@gmail.com

It’s All About Trees…

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Ewing Township Awarded $20,000 Sustainability Grant

The Ewing Green Team is delighted to report that we were just awarded a $20,000 Sustainable Jersey grant funded by the PSEG Foundation. Four $20,000 grants, eight $10,000 grants and twenty $2,000 grants were distributed to fund a variety of projects in communities around the state.  Our grant was for protecting the community tree cover.

Ewing’s existing natural resources, including our tree cover, and the need to preserve these resources were key priorities agreed to by Township residents during the Ewing Green Team’s 2014 Community Visioning Project. Residents agreed that preserving a community’s tree canopy, both forest stands and street trees, is extremely important in combating climate change, but also in creating a community that is aesthetically appealing and that provides opportunities for residents to be closer to nature.

emerald_ash_borerHowever, events of the past several years and upcoming threats to the tree canopy make protecting our tree canopy in Ewing a challenge. In 2012 Ewing suffered substantial losses to its tree canopy in its public parks as a result of a microburst in July, followed by Hurricane Sandy in October.  Since then, the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), identified by a Rapid Ash Survey completed by the Rutgers Urban Forestry Program and NJ State Forestry Services in the summer of 2015, confirmed the presence of this destructive invasive insect in Ewing.  The Survey identified more than 890 infected ash trees on public property. To protect the integrity of the tree canopy, and to increase Ewing’s tree cover overall, the township must begin a management program to replace the trees with non-invasive and native trees.

Our grant, Partnering for the Restoration of the Community Forest: The 3P Plan, Partnerships-Plan-Planting,  will fund development of partnerships (the County, Rutgers, PSE&G, DEP, and however many others we can find) to manage the spread and removals of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Borer on Ewing municipal lands.  It also include partial replacement of Ash trees (100) lost to the EAB.   And, it will include community outreach and education.  We will be working with NJ State Certified Tree Expert, Bill Brash to manage the grant.

With the EAB infestations beginning to be detected in NJ, there is a need for a well thought out, researched, planned and implemented response to the threat.  Ewing will be demonstrating a leadership role in management of this issue as we intend our process to serve as a model for other communities to follow.

More News about our Tree Canopy

In addition, Ewing Twp. has also has negotiated with the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission for replacement of trees lost from the Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement project under the No Net Loss  Program(NNL).  The Twp. has been told that there will be funding for planting approximately 600 trees on municipal lands.  These will probably be planted in the fall.

We also hope to obtain grant funds to inventory Ewing parks for Ash tree locations and help the Twp. to determine locations for the 600+ NNL trees.

We are well on our way to accomplishing a number of the goals laid out by our Visioning, from tree plantings to restore our tree canopy, to sponsoring of educational workshops for the public, and more.
So, it’s a little good news for our tree canopy!  Thank you, Sustainable Jersey and PSE&G Foundation!