Communities tap sources to replace lost ash trees

[Allan]

Southfield parks employees shred ashes that fell victim to the emerald ash borer. The city has spent $150,000 to cut down about 400 trees, but it and other Oakland communities are requesting state help to remove all infested trees.

Communities tap sources to replace ash trees lost to bug

They look for cash, diverse species

By Delores Patterson / The Detroit News

SOUTHFIELD

[Allan]

I was in Southfield yesterday, & saw the damage that the Ash Borer has caused. Formerly tree lined streets are now bare. There are entire yards without a single tree. My mom grew up in Southfield. Just this last summer we drove by her childhood home. The streets were all tree-lined. It was nice, because the trees created a canopy over the street. When I went back yesterday to take a pic of the house to send to my grandpa, there were tree removal crews removing all the Ash trees. They were out in force...I saw 5 groups of men working to remove the trees. They had already cleared all the Ash trees out of about half of the neighborhood, but in the other half, at least half of the trees were marked with orange X's. The good news is that the city is replanting new trees as fast as they are removing the old ones. However, it will take another 35 years for them to get to a good size again.