Shift switch: Arborist battling the Emerald Ash Borer invasion

There are two kinds of people out there, Steve Pfohl told me recently: those that take their trees seriously and those that take them for granted.

And Pfohl would know. He's a certified arborist with nearly 20 years experience who works for Brookfield's Ground Crew Service.

I'm in the former camp and when I heard that three city-owned trees in the median in front of my house and my neighbors' houses were threatened by the arrival of the ash-gobbling Emerald Ash Borer, I made it my job to inform myself and keep myself informed.

So, when I got the chance to spend some time with Pfohl and Curtis Andrews -- also an arborist -- of John Deere Landscapes, injecting ash trees on the Northwest Side, I eagerly accepted.

Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive insect from Asia first found in the U.S. about eight years ago. Adults lay eggs in the bark of the trees and the larvae burrow beneath the bark and cut off the tree's ability to transport nutrients, ultimately killing the tree.

At first there was talk of felling huge swaths of ash trees to try and stop the spread. Then folks were warned not to transport firewood, for fear of carrying EAB around. Early treatments were insecticides injected into the soil, where the tree's roots would suck them up.

But now, thanks in part to a company called Arborjet, which has created a system for injecting trees with Tree-Age, an insecticide made by the company, the outlook is changing.

The system is just one of many tools being used by arborists to combat EAB.

In the shadow of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Pfohl has arrayed the equipment: a plastic bucket with plastic bottles attached on opposite sides, a bicycle-style air pump, some plastic tubing that looks straight out of the ER, a hammer and a power hand drill.

"When they found Emerald Ash Borer it was kind of a big blowup," he tells me. "Then we've gone through a few years of fumbling on the best technique to manage the problem. After cutting trees they hauled them away and transported the borer to other areas.

"What's doing the damage is the larvae and that's the science behind this. We want to go after the larvae and we want to put the insecticide into the area they're girdling. The problem with this insect is it's very difficult to know if you've got it."

The fact that EAB landed in other nearby states first gave Wisconsin a leg up, says Pfohl.

"As we saw what was happening in Michigan and then in Virginia, then in parts Canada and Ohio and again in Illinois, we're trying to take what they showed us and perfect it.

"It was trial and error back then because they didn't have any idea what they were facing. We're talking about an invasive species, something we have no familiarity with. We've never dealt with something like this."

The actual injection is simple, straightforward and fast. First, the diameter of the tree is measured, because Tree-Age is administered in dosages related to that measurment. Next, four holes are drilled near the base of the tree.

Plastic plugs are hammered into the holes and the needles attached to the clear plastic tubing are inserted into each hole. Pfohl adds the proper dosage to the plastic bottle and some water to dilute it to the proper consistency and strength and he pumps some air into the system.

In a matter of minutes, the tree is drinking up the insecticide and it literally drinks it up. You can watch the liquid in the hose get sucked up by the tree.

"The tree is sucking it up," Pfohl says. "We're actually watching as the tree is taking it in. I timed another tree a little earlier and it was, boom, four and a half minutes. This particular system really has revolutionized how I treat trees."

Later, I talked to Arborjet's Rob Gorden via telephone and he told me how the system came to be.

"When you're spraying your tree, your neighbor's (trees) are also getting sprayed, and soil drenching has always had sort of an apprehension to it," he says. "We know we're treating the tree but we're putting our products into the soil and we never are quite sure what that means: where it's going, how safe it is. In some places you're not allowed to soil drench anymore."

So, company founder Peter Wild began to investigate an injection system, an idea that goes back centuries, it seems. And he also began experimenting with a formula that would work to control Emerald Ash Borer and other pests.

"The results that we started receiving from our research were really exciting," says Gorden. "We were not just getting some control of pests -- specifically Emerald Ash Borer -- we were getting excellent control of Emerald Ash Borer and it wasn't just lasting a year like all of the other products on the market, we were getting multiple years of control. So this was very very exciting news and it took the Emerald Ash Borer researchers by storm."

Count Pfohl and Andrews among the fans of the system, which is just one of a number of ways arborists are battling EAB.

"It pretty much stops what's going on and prevents new stuff from occurring," says Andrews.

"And the data's been solid," adds Pfohl. "We're only five years in on research and they're saying with the injection of a healthy ash tree, they're basically guaranteeing survival during the two years that the product is active. It's showing that this is the best technique versus some other techniques we were trying that were not working so well. More than 30 percent of the canopy can be infected and the injection therapeutically works, and the tree survives."

I'm amazed at how quick the injection process is and Pfohl says that the speed -- as well as the lessened environmental impact -- is another benefit of the injection system.

"I can do a number of trees simultaneously. The insecticide is contained in the plug, so it won't harm the environment and the tree gets its proper dosage.

"Nothing is safe," Pfohl adds. "This is an insecticide, but in these little notches, it has a bladder and it allows us to inject a needle into and doesn't allow the product to escape and potentially contaminate and environmental systems.

"Most arborists would agree that treating anything chemically should be done as a last resort. We'll use a natural technique to try to manage the situation and cultural practices but if we don't have that option and the only option is a chemical treatment then we want a chemical treatment that is the least impacting on the environment and people and pets."

As Emerald Ash Borer has arrived in the Milwaukee area over the past year -- Cudahy is the most recent area to note its arrival -- municipalities have taken initiatives.

Milwaukee treated more than 13,000 of the 37,000 city-owned trees last year -- including the ones on my street -- and is doing another 15,000 this year. The remainder will be taken care of next year (the treatment must occur when leaves are on the trees). The city is also starting a get the word out campaign to help property owners understand the options for the trees on their land.

The injection makes financial sense for the city, too. Milwaukee estimated it would cost $750 per tree to cut, remove, stump grind and replace each ash on city property. That's $27 million. Last year, it spent $700,000 to treat more than 13,000 trees. At that rate, the city could treat all its ash trees for nearly 30 years before it will have spent $27 million.

And during that time Milwaukee can begin investigating and planning for ways to move away from the single-species or monoculture approach typical in most cities, ours included.

Gorden tells me that Waukesha is treating its trees this year, too. Both cities use the Arborjet System.

"At this point EAB continues to progress across the country, we can't stop it from doing so at this point," says Gorden. "We can however save any trees that we choose to save, no matter what size. If we inject them, we will, in fact, save them."

And Pfohl's customers are getting the message. In 2009 he did a total of three treatments. In the month since he began treating trees this year, he'd done 70 by the time we met.

"Were not getting rid of the bug," Andrews tells me as Pfohl packs up the gear. "We're going to start dealing with it. We're going to protect landscape trees."

"We're going to manage it," adds Pfohl. "Ten years from now the trees that are injected will be in good shape because the population of EAB is going to skyrocket and, subsequently, as it's fed and killed so many ashes (and it can't eat the injected trees) it doesn't have a food source and the population declines and then the pressure is off."