As part of the projects with Augustana CollegeClinton residents are asked to share the location of trees on their property to combat the threat of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). This non-native invasive beetle is destructive to all types of ash trees, and quickly spreading throughout the Midwest.
If you live in Clinton, visit http://www.augustana.edu/x62836.xml to map the location of trees on your property. Even if you cannot identify their types, note the location of all trees so that Augustana College students and faculty can verify the information during
two days this fall: Wednesday, September 9 and Sunday, October 4.
The city has partnered with Augustana, through the college’s Sustainable Working Landscapes Initiative (SWLI), to help develop an Urban Forest Management Plan (UMFP) for Clinton. During the next nine months, Augustana students will collaborate on the plan with city officials and community stakeholders.
“The tree inventory is the first step of the much bigger initiative of an Urban Forest Management Plan to respond to the threat posed by the Emerald Ash Borer, and guide
management of the urban forest for the coming decade,” said Jessica Kinser, Clinton city administrator.
Trees on private property comprise more than 80% of the tree cover in Clinton. The remaining are right-of-way and park trees, for which the city is responsible. Clinton’s
superintendent of streets, solid waste, grounds and facilities, Tom Krogman, will head a city inventory of the park and right-of-way trees to help assess the status of the urban forest.
Dr. Michael Reisner, assistant professor of environmental studies and director of Augustana’s Upper Mississippi Center for Sustainable Communities, said, “Understanding the current number and conditions of both the city and privately owned trees is critical to assessing the vulnerability of the urban forest to the EAB and other
stresses and diseases.” He added, “Baseline information also is vital to developing strategies to conserve and enhance the resilience of the urban forest for current and future generations.”
Dr. Matt Fockler, assistant professor of geography at Augustana, called the information “critical to protecting highly desirable individual ash trees. “We can slow the EAB invasion to the death of ash and buy time for tree owners to take whatever actions they feel are most appropriate, given their goals and resources,” he said.
More about the Emerald Ash Borer
The EAB was detected in Clinton County in the spring of this 2015. During the past decade, this invasive beetle has devastated forests across the Midwest and Eastern United States and caused about $18 billion due to the reduction in land values and the costs of monitoring programs, treatment, and dead ash tree removal and replacement. EAB eventually causes the death of more than 95% of the ash trees in an invaded area. Their
loss has crippling effects on urban forest diversity and structure, and related ecosystem services (property values, shade, air pollution and noise reductions, wildlife habitat, aesthetic beauty, stormwater capture and retention, etc.).
More about the Project Goals
A successful UFMP will ensure the health of trees, including a proactive planting and
removal plan, and maintain a sustainable urban forest using available staff and financial resources. The UFMP will assess the following:
1. What trees does the city of Clinton have? – Assess the current status and trajectory (assuming no action) of the urban forest and the social-ecological system in which it is embedded.
2. What does the city of Clinton want? – Solicit input from relevant decisionmakers, institutional stakeholders and citizens, and use this information to formulate a vision, goal and objectives for the UFMP.
3. How should the city of Clinton get what it wants? – Formulate alternative management recommendations to achieve UFMP objectives.
4. Is the city of Clinton getting what it wants? – Formulate an adaptive management plan; include key indicators to track progress and a monitoring plan.
To participate in the project without using the online form, or for more information, contact Tara Cullison at 309-794-7453 (taracullison@augustana.edu) or Kelsey Self (kelseyself14@augustana.edu).
