Jeff Hafner: "Ash Tree Preservation" - The Emerald Ash Borer: A Predictable Natural Disaster and Coordinated Solution
Arborist Jeff Hafner was happy to be at our meeting but did not have any cash for a fine! He was at our club to
speak about the susceptibility of ash trees to fatal attacks by the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) and a
coordinated solution to the problem. Minnesota has a billion ash trees and they need to be preserved.
He took examples to demonstrate how the ash tree population could vanish from EAB attacks. The EAB ‘death
curve’ has seen a rapid increase but this is a predictable natural disaster unlike tornadoes, which are unpredictable natural disasters. Fortunately, with the benefit of 10 years of scientific research, there is a way to slow ash mortality (SLAM). SLAM in an urban forest involves reducing the rate at which EAB grows and slowing down the ash mortality. There are also multiple tools to do this.
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