Gary Tipler
Willy Street has lost 43 ash trees since 2014; 16 more are likely to be removed in 2019.
When the city of Madison cut down several ash trees along Williamson Street on Aug. 4, stunned neighbors began reacting in anger and sadness on Facebook. The city has been warning for years that numerous trees would be cut down as the emerald ash borer pest invades Madison, but the reality of seeing the trees fall was nevertheless heartbreaking.
“The big canopy trees are what made our neighborhood beautiful, in addition to saving on heating and air-conditioning,” one woman wrote on Madison Canopy Street Trees Facebook group page. “I believe they are going to replace them with trees that won’t get very tall, not canopy trees. Makes me very sad. I think they are lowering property values as well.”
“It is very difficult to understand the logic of what the city is doing to our canopy [trees],” a neighbor added.
Forty-three ash trees have been removed on Williamson Street since 2014 says Ann Shea, spokesperson for the Madison Parks Division, which manages trees in the city’s street terraces. She speculates 16 more on Willy Street will be removed around 2019. Shea relayed information via email on behalf of Marla Eddy, the city’s forester, who declined to be interviewed, as she routinely does.
City officials claim that they properly notified residents before removing the trees, which included several in front of the Willy Street Coop. However, Truly Remarkable Loon, a Spaight Street resident and an administrator of the Facebook group, says neighbors were given a mere 24-hour notice.
Shea says the city has little choice but to take down many ash trees in the fight against emerald ash borer that reached Madison in 2013.
“Unfortunately it is not a matter of if, but when, any untreated trees will become infested with [emerald ash borer],” Shea says. “Once infested, the trees die and become major hazards for pedestrians, vehicles and our workers as the wood becomes extremely brittle and can fall unexpectedly.”
The city doesn’t consider any ash tree to be healthy “at this point,” Shea says, with the vast majority at some stage of insect infestation. The pests kill the trees by girdling, or encircling, the trunk in the larval stage. This process doesn’t become visible until after about a year.
However, Loon calls the current assessment process “arbitrary,” as he believes some trees that were cut down were in healthy condition.
Shea says the city has been carrying out its EAB Mitigation Plan, created by the EAB Task Force, since the insect was discovered in Madison. “A key component of this plan when trees have not met criteria for insecticide treatment injections is preemptive removals,” Shea writes.
Shea emphasizes that the EAB plan also calls for reinvestment in a sustainable urban forest and to replace the trees within three growing seasons — by 2020. But right now, the city’s goal and priority is keeping residents and property out of harm’s way.
Loon says while city officials, and Eddy specifically, have worked tirelessly to keep people safe, they need to do so with more transparency and collaboration with citizens. In order to prevent more heartbreak in the future, he proposes educating residents more extensively about any invasive species.
“Parks and forestry have a hard job,” he says.
Shea says the city has focused resources on providing a website with a “significant” amount of information. She says the city provides residents with a letter that the terrace ash tree will be removed if it does not meet treatment criteria.
“We have presented to 16 neighborhood associations. We held three listening sessions in 2010 to ask for input in creating the [plan],” she says. “We also provide an annual update to the [Common Council] and the Board of Park Commissioners.”
She refers Isthmus to the Madison website’s FAQ’s section. However, it doesn’t provide information about who is notified about terrace canopy trees being cut down. There’s only a question that addresses when the city notifies residents if and when a tree will be planted.
Loon knows how devastating it can be to see a tree near your home come down. His home used to be shaded by a 40-year-old, 25-inch diameter basswood. It was unexpectedly removed in July 2009 after S&L Underground & Trucking of Sauk City mangled its roots during road construction.
Says Loon: “The tree is like a member of your family.”
