A green painted "X" will soon mark some of the 30,000 public ash trees as the Park and Recreation Board prepares to remove them from the city.
The eight-year removal effort is part of the Park Board's attempt to stop the Emerald Ash Borer infestation in the city. Its goal is to remove a small percentage of ash trees at a time from city boulevards and parks and replace them with other tree species.
Trees with no signs of the disease will be marked and removed through 2014. Ash trees that are already infested with EAB will be removed as soon as possible, according to the Park Board.
Its forestry department anticipates replacing 5,000 ash trees each year for eight years.
"Our goal is to replace approximately two to four ash trees on each block per season," said Ralph Sievert, the Director of Forestry."Foresters will choose trees for replacement throughout an entire block so that properties are affected as evenly as possible."
