There are a few things homeowners can do to help prevent the spread of the emerald ash borer – an invasive, ash-tree-killing insect that was recently discovered in Minnesota: No. 1, buy your firewood from a local source – the main spread of the insect has come from bringing infested firewood from state to state.

But, Eden Prairie Natural Resources Manager Stuart Fox cautions that residents should educate themselves about the pest before rushing to douse their ash trees in pesticide.

As for the city policy, “We’re in a wait and see mode,” he said.
Fox noted that the city of Eden Prairie’s staff has not been actively searching to see if any Eden Prairie trees are invested.
“We don’t have a budget to do anything about it,” he noted.

People should be concerned about the infestation, but there’s not a magic bullet or quick fix for the situation, according to Fox.

“We’ve got our hands full right now dealing with Dutch elm disease and oak wilt disease,” two diseases that must be addressed, according to city ordinance.

EAB is something that is “so new to the metropolitan area, who knows what direction it’s going to take?” he added.

If a widespread outbreak of the pest occurred, Eden Prairie would have some affected areas.

“It could make a major impact in some parks like Round Lake Park, where we’ve planted a lot of ash trees,” he said.

City Manager Scott Neal tackled the issue recently in a blog entry. He wrote:

“So what should cities do? Nothing and let nature take its course? Preemptively cut all its ash trees down? Chemically treat all its ash trees to protect them? We’re still trying to figure out the right course of action for Eden Prairie. Our motto, however, is ‘don’t panic.’ We’ve had a Dutch elm disease policy and tree removal program in Eden Prairie for 35 years. We still have elm trees, but we still are removing elm trees too. We believe that something very similar is in store for our ash trees. We don’t have the budget available to take them all down, but we don’t have the budget to inoculate them all either.

“The best thing we can do is to make sure that we begin to plan for a species of tree to replace the ash trees when they eventually get infected and have to be removed. We expect that to happen to most, if not all of them, someday. But if we begin to replant now, in 35 years when the last of the old ash trees are coming down, we will still have a vibrant urban forest.”

– Compiled by Leah Shaffer