As a concerned citizen who appreciates the shade provided by the trees along the curb in front of my house, I sent a note to the Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection asking about what's going on at the moment.
"I don't believe we've started surveying trees in Milwaukee yet. We'll be working with the city forester and other municipal foresters in the county," replied Jane Hewston Larson, the DATCP's Public Information Officer. "We'll be focusing on trees on public lands and along public rights of ways. We're also interested in trees that are 10 inches or less in diameter.
"Our goal is to locate 5,900 trees in 17 counties. That's about 347 trees per county but the southern counties along the Illinois border will be sampled more heavily compared to more northern counties. Also, we may end up with fewer trees as we do our work in the field because there may not be trees where we survey."
I also asked what a concerned citizen can do not only to help combat the pesky emerald ash boorer, but to help DATC cut down as few trees as possible.
"It sounds like you're doing the right things -- knowing the signs and symptoms of emerald ash borer and knowing who to contact should you suspect something. If you plant any new trees, choose something other than ash. Come May, start looking for the emerald green beetles. If you see any, try and capture one and keep it in a jar or bottle then call us."
Stay tuned for more on this issue.
Just this morning, my son and I gazed out the window to watch the birds flittering through the now mostly leaf-less branches of the three trees out front. Last week after the crazy storms, my wife and I were amazed that the squirrel's nest survived, high up in the bare canopy. I thought about that damned boorer and I hoped, once again, it passes us by.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
