Village Staff Reports Montgomery's Ash Borer Problem Is Growing

Three months ago, the received a $10,000 grant from the Metropolitan Mayors Conference to help deal with its emerald ash borer problem.

Village public works staff had found 97 trees infested with the beetle, all of them clustered on the west side, and the grant was like manna from heaven.

However, Director Mike Pubentz said this week that the grant will only allow the village to replace 33 of those infested trees, and his staff keeps finding more. The current total, he said, is somewhere between 125 and 150 trees, and the village likely will not have enough money to deal with the spread of the infestation.

“It’s long since passed being about keeping them out,” Pubentz said. “It’s been about managing [the problem].”

The emerald ash borer is a small green beetle that, in its larva stage, burrows through the soft wood of ash trees and kills them from the inside. Ash borers lay eggs in the crevices of ash tree bark. When the larvae hatch, they chew their way deep into the trees.

The beetles were first discovered in North America in 2002 and since then, the infestation has spread to 14 states, including Illinois. The Illinois Department of Agriculture has placed 23 counties under quarantine, including Kane and Kendall, making it illegal to move ash wood to non-quarantined counties.

Infested trees were first discovered in Montgomery last fall. Pubentz said he is not sending his crews out to look for the ash borers but they’re finding them anyway in the course of other work. Residents have also been reporting the telltale signs of infestation, he said.

The infested trees are still primarily on the west side, in the Foxmoor, Fairfield Way and Lakewood Creek subdivisions. Pubentz, however, said some have been found on the east side as well.

What’s the fix? Pubentz hopes to present options to the Montgomery Village Board soon. They include devoting more funds to fighting infestation in future budget years, and seeking out alternate sources of help. Pubentz said his staff already is doing that second one, but he isn’t sure how much money is out there.

Pubentz also said the village is willing to provide assistance to property owners who find ash borers in their own trees. Ash trees can be infested with the borer for years before signs appear, but those signs include D-shaped exit holes in the bark, shoots sprouting from tree trunks and S-shaped tunnels underneath the bark.

If you think you have found signs of emerald ash borer infestation, call Pubentz at 630-896-9241, or send photos to the Illinois Department of Agriculture at agr.eab@illinois.gov.