Tree organization asks council to stop mass removal of ash trees

Shannon Ramsey, president/CEO and founder of Trees Forever, told the City Council last night that the city's forestry crews are inappropriately taking down too many ash trees along city streets in a move to prepare for the likely arrival in the years ahead of the ash-killing emerald ash borer.

Ramsey said Trees Forever does not object to taking down ash trees now in decline as part of a program to prepare for the ash borer. But healthy ash trees should remain in place and will provide beauty and benefits for years to come, she said.

She called on the council to “stop the mass removal” of ashes, and she noted that cities like Madison, Wis., and Milwaukee, Wis., both of which are closer to ash-borer infestation, are not removing ash trees in mass.

Ramsey said she and other stakeholders would be happy to join an advisory group to work with the city to prepare for the emerald ash borer.