Background and Management of Emerald Ash Borer

Public Ash Trees

The Village of Riverside has been aware of the insect's potential impact and has been taking measures to prepare for the inevitable Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) infestation.

Information Distribution

Information has been distributed to residents through door hangers, public meetings, informational displays at the Riverside Public Library and Township Hall along with the Riverside Review, press releases, and local newspapers.

Surveying the Area

The forester began surveying efforts to detect the EAB in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) and Morton Arboretum.

At the request of the Village Forester, the IDA began supplying purple traps as a way to detect the insect without destructive harvest of the trees by bark peeling. In 2010, the Village received notification that one of the four purple traps had been confirmed with one adult EAB. Read the Emerald Ash Borer Confirmation Letter from Illinois Department of Agriculture (PDF)

Continuous Efforts

The loss of our ash trees is a man made natural disaster that will be a significant time and resource sink for the Department of Public Works for years to come.

Removing Public Infested Trees

The Village of Riverside is committed to mitigating the impact of this non-native invasive insect by the removal of pubic infested trees for public safety and reforestation efforts as funding allows and planting spaces become available. Please take time to review the Village's Emerald Ash Borer Policy (PDF) officially adopted by the Board of trustees on January 17th, 2012 and FAQs regarding implementation and management strategy.

The Village of Riverside, using GIS, has identified and mapped ash tree locations on public land. To see the impact this pest could have on parks and parkways in your neighborhood, please review the following  Public Ash Inventory Map. As an infested tree is identified in a quadrant, letters will go out to notify residents with ash trees on their parkway. A copy of the EAB Quadrant Letter (PDF) and adopted Emerald Ash Borer Policy (PDF) is available for your review.

Treatments

Treatments with insecticides are being studied. For further information regarding insecticidal treatments, please follow the links below. The Village of Riverside does not plan to treat any public ash trees due to the long term economic commitment and the lack of long term research of the chemical treatments. Instead, the Village has chosen to invest in tree replacement as opposed to chemical treatments.

Treatment Information for EAB

Multi State Emerald Ash Borer Insecticide Fact Sheet (PDF)