Bartlett Woman Organizes Neighbors To Fight Emerald Ash Borer
BARTLETT, Ill. (CBS) -- A Bartlett woman is organizing neighbors to join her in trying to save their tree-lined neighborhood from the emerald ash borer.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, Amy Zinga of Bartlett lives on Brookside Drive, a street lined with ash trees. Some are already infested with the ash borer.
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"These trees will die before they will be treated by the village, so it's up to the residents if they want to save them," Zinga said.
Zinga is hoping to rally residents to make that happen.
"I'm trying," she said.
The trees are mostly in the parkways. They belong to the Village of Bartlett, which is weighing its options – removal or treatment.
A demonstration of treatment was staged recently for neighbors. Arborist Jeff Palmer says it will cost about $125 per tree to keep the ash borer away for two years.
If the trees die, Zinga points out, the leafy, shady street could become a sun-baked plain.
"If they die, we're going to lose this whole look and feel," she said.
The problem for Bartlett, like many other communities, is that a large percentage of the trees are ash – a total of 38 percent in Bartlett.
The emerald ash borer is an insect native to Asia which arrived in the U.S. in the 1990s. Ash borer larvae kill ash trees by consuming trunk bark, the U.S. Forest Service explains.
The insect was first spotted in Michigan in 2003, and since then has made its way across Illinois, including many Chicago suburbs. The ash borer has also been seen
