Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Onondaga County Legislature must act quickly to save about 2,000 valuable ash trees in parks and other county-owned land, the county's environment director said today.
Onondaga County plans to cut down 44,000 trees over the next 10 years, but can save about 2,300 trees by injecting them with pesticides, said David Coburn, director of the county Office of the Environment. Coburn told a legislative committee the work must begin soon to keep ahead of the destructive emerald ash borer.
"I'm hopeful that the Legislature will make a decision sooner rather than later," Coburn told the Environmental Protection Committee. "Once the infestation reaches a certain point, preservation is no longer an option."
Coburn presented the committee with a plan that calls for cutting down 95 percent of the 46,730 ash trees on county property that are close enough to parking lots, roads, trails and picnic areas to cause a safety hazard if they die. The county would save trees that shade picnic areas, stabilize stream banks, or provide habitat for important species, the report says. (See full report below.)
The entire plan would cost about $13.5 million, plus $1.8 million in interest if the county borrows the money.
Committee Chairman Michael Plochocki, R-Marcellus, said the plan is "on track for approval" by the full Legislature July 1.
One of the areas targeted for injections is Willow Bay picnic area on Onondaga Lake, Coburn said.
"You can stand in any place there and count 20 ash trees of 2 feet in diameter or larger," Coburn said. "If you removed those trees it would totally change the character of that park."
Ash borers were found in Onondaga County last year, but they may have been here much longer. They kill virtually every tree they infest.
To save an ash tree from the ash borer, it must be inoculated with a pesticide every three years, said Mark Burger, executive director of the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District. Trees should be inoculated while they are drawing nutrients up from the soil and into branches and leaves, which is generally spring through late summer.
The cost of inoculating a tree depends on its size. Treatment for a tree 18 inches in diameter would be $81 to $126, according to the county's ash management plan. The conservation district is scheduled to do the inoculations. About a third of the 2,300 trees would be inoculated each year.
Here's the plan prepared by the Onondaga County Office of the Environment: