The Ash Borer’s Next 220 Victims
Friday, November 30, 2018 8:50 AM
The dots show which ash trees are expected to be cut down.
Tree Trust begins cutting down 220 more ash trees in Como Regional Park on Dec. 4, adding to the toll of 245 trees removed from the park since 2016. A map shows the trees are spread throughout the park. But there are clusters where their disappearance will have a noticeable impact, including:
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Along Lexington Parkway, especially north of the pedestrian bridge and north of Como Lake Drive
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Along the walking paths east of the lake
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Near the Hamm Waterfall
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North of the pool
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Near the playground and picnic area
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South of Nagasaki Drive
The trees will be removed weekdays through January. Harvested trees are being stored and mulched in the Como Pool parking lot.
All the doomed trees are infested with emerald ash borer and are declining or dead, the city's Forestry Department says. Decaying trees, it says, put the public at risk of being hit by falling branches or limbs. Forestry intends to replace all the trees in 2019 with different species, on as close to a 1:1 ratio "as will work under current conditions."