Northern Taconic Arboriculture, LLC

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Hi neighbors! I wanted to make a forum post about the arrival of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetle in Bomoseen. I reported it to the State this past fall and I've been seeing the symptoms develop on my drives along Rt 30 just north of the Bomoseen Lodge and Taproom. There are lots of ash trees in that area and a few have developed the telltale "blonding" of the bark by woodpeckers grabbing an easy snack of the EAB larvae that are overwintering just under the bark of the tree. The larvae eat their way along the outside edge of important tissues of the wood just under the bark of the tree called the cambium. The cambium is the part of the tree that allows water & nutrients absorbed by the roots and sugars created by photosynthesis in the leaves to be moved between the leaves and the roots so the tree can grow and get bigger. The larvae eating the cambium causes pretty rapid tree decline and death. Ash trees become very brittle fairly quickly after they die. They fall apart and can behave unpredictably when they get cut with chainsaws so it's usually better to have trees near any high value targets (people, cars, buildings, power lines) removed before they are dead. DO NOT CUT trees that can hit power lines yourself!!! DO NOT have your: cousin, buddy, dad, mom, brother, sister, guy with a saw cut trees that can hit power lines unless they are insured, trained and certified to do so. Call GMP about trees near power lines. Ash trees are common here. EAB will spread everywhere there are ash trees. Only high value trees in landscapes are recommended to be treated with insecticide to kill the EAB as they feed on the treated trees tissue and keep the tree from being killed. This treatment has to be done by a VT certified pesticide applicator who has an Ornamental & Shade Tree Pest Control Certification (Category 3A). I do not have the Category 3A Certification. You can learn more about EAB and all of Vermont's Invasive Species pests at vtinvasives.org