Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week
April 20th, 2011 Posted in Calendared Items, Front Page News, President's Blog
Please read this important message from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Dear Concerned Citizen,
The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is a destructive invasive insect that has already killed over 50 million ash trees in neighboring states, and has now been detected in seven counties in New York State. The first step to effectively manage EAB is to identify current infestations, and slow the spread. To do this, we need more people aware of the insect to be able to report possible infestations, and to help slow the spread by not transporting firewood.
This year NYS DEC is working to get a Governor’s Proclamation for Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week. EAB Awareness Week has been proclaimed by many other states for the past several years. This will be the first year for New York. We hope to have a press release about it, but in addition we need to take actions to increase EAB outreach and awareness.
This year, we would like to implement the EAB ash tree tagging program. This is an outreach tactic that other states have used, and has been reported as very successful. To do this we will create and print cards (or tags) that will be attached to ash trees using ribbon to tie around the tree. Please see the attached picture for an example of what the tag will say.
The goal is to get as many ash trees tagged as possible during awareness week (May 22- 28).
To do this we will need many volunteers across the state to place tags in their local community, or park/recreation area. If you or your organization would like to participate in this project to tag ash trees, please contact the DEC at the contact information listed below by April 29th.
NYS DEC will provide you with all the tags and ribbon that you need.
In addition, I will also need to know the intended location for deployment of the tags to guarantee that we do not have overlap between groups, so please let me know the specific locations of tag deployment (neighborhood, park name etc.). Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) will also be doing this project for Arbor Day, and they will hopefully leave their tags up through Awareness Week as well. CCE will be sharing their deployment sites with me to avoid overlap.
The tags can be removed anytime. However, I do recommend removing them before the end of summer, to avoid them breaking and becoming litter. Plus, some land owners may only want them left up for a week or so.
Possible sites for tagging: (remember to get permission from land owners early, try to pick locations that are heavily visited, and do as many sites as possible!)
County, City or Town parks
Community street trees
Forest recreation areas: trailheads, Campgrounds, other popular spots
Also, if you are near current EAB infested areas (see map in attached document), focus around towns near infestations.
I hope you are as excited about this project as I am, and please let me know if you have any ideas on how we can make this a success.
Jason Smith
NYS Department of Environmental ConservationDivision of Lands and ForestsOffice of Communication, Training and Enforcement Coordination
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-4250Email: jpsmith@gw.dec.state.ny.usOffice: 518-473-6227Mobile: 518-522-0034 Freshen up the air around you with New York source seedlings. Tree and shrub seedlings are available for sale from the Saratoga Tree Nursery until Mid May. All products grown on site. Quality is what we strive for.
Go to http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7127.html for more information.
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