Treatment to Protect Publicly Owned Ash Trees to Occur Between: June 14, 2021 and June 30, 2021

Ash trees make up a large portion of the public trees that line our streets and fill our local parks. The Bay County Gypsy Moth Suppression Program realizes the value of trees and works to protect these trees from invasive pests such as the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The EAB lays eggs on the bark of Ash trees and the hatchlings bore into the tree bark. Once inside the bark layer of an Ash tree, the EAB chews through the tree’s water and nutrient- conducting tissues essentially starving the tree. As the tree begins to die the leafy canopy of the infested Ash tree will begin to look thin. That’s why we will be conducting treatments to continue protecting publicly owned Ash trees in Bay County from the invasive Emerald Ash Borer between June 14, 2021 and June 30, 2021.

The Ash trees are treated through the direct injection of an insecticide called Tree-age that contains the active ingredient Emamectin Benzoate which will kill 99% of EAB that feed on it. Since the product is injected directly into the tree through a one way port, there is no danger of the product leaking out of the tree and affecting non- target organisms. EAB treatment timing is dependent on the leaf development of the Ash trees that will be treated. The Ash trees need to be actively transpiring or moving water through the tree to take up the insecticide. Treatment of each tree is estimated to take from 15 minutes up to two hours. The 2021 Emerald Ash Borer Treatment Project will treat approximately 971 Ash trees and will take up to two weeks to complete. These treatments will protect the trees from EAB for three (3) years. The application firm conducting the injection treatment for Bay County will be Kinnucan Tree Experts & Landscape Company.

Specific areas of publicly owned Ash trees included in the 2021 treatment project are located along streets and in parks in the locations of Frankenlust Township Park, Monitor Township Park, all publicly owned Ash trees located on the west side of Bay City, and all northern Bay County publicly owned ash trees located in parks and along streets in (Gibson Township, Pinconning, Linwood, and Kawkawlin). Maps showing the general locations with Ash trees to be treated can be viewed on the Program Webpage at  https://www.baycounty-mi.gov/GypsyMoth/EmeraldAshBorer.aspx 

For more information about the program’s Emerald Ash Borer Treatment Operations, or about how to keep your trees healthy, please contact Jeremy Lowell, Bay County Gypsy Moth Suppression Program Coordinator, at 989- 895-4195 or lowellj@baycounty.net.