Neillsville City Council Hears Urban Forestry Plan
Wednesday, September 21st, 2016 -- 10:07 AM
-The Neillsville City Council heard about the city’s Urban Forestry Plan at their meeting last week.This plan is only in the preliminary stages and a final draft hasn’t been completed. The plan shown at the meeting on Tuesday of last week was a first draft to give the council an idea of what they’d like to do. This began when the Emerald Ash Borer was discovered in Jackson County near Black River Falls. Due to 23% of the city’s tree population being Ash, a council member and the Public Works Department decided it would be a good idea to get a jump on the project to try and protect the city’s trees. A complete tree inventory was done to see what kind of trees the city has.
With this plan, the city would remove some dead and old trees that are deemed hazardous; they would also remove smaller trees, especially Ash, totaling a removal of 79 trees. Other Ash trees would be treated with chemicals to protect them from the Ash Borer. However, it is costly coming to $14,000 per tree and they would need to be treated every couple years until the beetle moves out of the area. They would also replant trees after the others would remove with the DNR offering a program and grant to help pay for that cost. Again, the plan is in the preliminary phases and could change substantially from now and when it’s implemented.
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