Worcester Residents Outraged Over Trees Cut Due to Invasive Beetle

Monday, July 28, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

While the city of Worcester prepared to move nearly 500 trees in the Green Hill Golf Course area as a result of a potential Asian Longhorned Beetle infestation, many of the of the homeowners are coming together to try to find an alternative method.

Residents filed a petition with the city hoping that rather than cutting down the trees, the city could use the insecticide Imidacloprid, which could be injected into the trees to get rid of the invasive beetles. While brought up at the most recent City Council meeting, City Manager Ed Augustus said that he still believed that cutting down the trees was the best option.

“I am convinced based on the best science and the experts that have been guiding us through this, that this is the best course of action to protect Green Hill Park,” said Augustus. “This is the point where we need to draw a line in the sand and protect the jewel that is Green Hill Park.”

The petition was filed with 33 signatures from homeowners in the area but was ultimately struck down. Residents fear that the loss of trees will affect the values of their homes, ruin their privacy – the trees serve as a buffer between the neighborhood and the golf course – and affect the seasonal temperatures in the neighborhood.

Defending the Neighborhood

Anthony Maloney says that he is not normally one to fight the rulings of city hall, but when it comes to defending trees in his neighborhood, he felt it was a worthy enough cause to come to city hall with a petition to save the neighborhood trees.

Because Imidacloprid is proven to be an effective way to treat against the beetles – one that would save the trees in Worcester from being cut down – Maloney would like to see the city at least look into the possibility of using the alternative option.

“The alternative method is to administer Imidacloprid through trunk injection which is listed on the APHIS website as standard protocol for to treat high risk trees within half a mile of a host tree,” said Maloney. “To cut down all of the trees when there is an alternative method to me seems silly; it just doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Many Factors, One Solution

While it seems like an easy alternative to treat the trees rather than cut them down, Rhonda Santos - Rhonda Santos, a public information officer for USDA – APHIS – says that many factors went into the program’s decision to want to cut down the trees rather than treat them with chemicals.

Imidacloprid is a chemical that must be administered in the spring to ensure that it is effective in trees, meaning that the window for using the treatment has closed. Additionally, the program only has so many dollars every year to devote to various eradication efforts. This year, the eradication program elected not to include chemical treatments in their budget.

“When looking at research, the timing of Imidacloprid usage is very important,” said Santos. “The chemical is really at its most effective in the spring. Our program has also elected to make completing the surveys a priority, so we can define the exact border of where the beetles are. In that area specifically, we have found beetles there multiple times; it makes the most sense at this point to remove any high risk trees and then to repaint new trees later.”