Dear Du Quoin: Seriously, we need to send this worm packing..

Here in Du Quoin we pride ourselves on being a friendly, welcoming, hospitable community - opening our arms to thousands a visitors annually. Well, I'm going to suggest that we roll up the welcome mat and join together in shipping the emerald ash borer out of town as quickly as possible.

This little pest has the potential to kill the hundreds of beautiful ash trees in town unless we - you and I - learn how to address this infestation. What we learn and the actions we take during this winter will most likely determine the fate of many of these magnificent shade trees and whether or not we expend hundreds of dollars to save the trees or thousands to cut them down. That's basically what our choices come down to.

The City of Du Quoin learned from the Illinois Department of Agriculture just over a month ago that the emerald ash borer had been detected in Du Quoin. You may have seen the picture of the actual beetle on the front page of the Call recently. The beetle isn't the problem. It's the beetle's offspring - the larvae - that infest a tree beneath the bark.

The larvae burrow up through the tree's vascular system, shutting off the tree's ability to circulate water and nutrients. The tops of the trees begin to die off first. If not treated quickly and properly, it may already be too late at that point and the tree may have to be cut down. In counties to the north of Perry County, extending into Wisconsin and Michigan, nearly every ash tree has been lost to this infestation. We still have time to save our trees in Du Quoin, but only if we learn and act.

I'll be inviting some knowledgeable speakers to a public workshop to provide as much up to date information as possible, but don't wait to learn more. I, along with then Public Works Director Doug Bishop and Street Department Superintendent Doug Hill, attended a workshop this summer at SIU regarding the emerald ash borer. We learned that these infestations are serious business that can be either manageably tended to or, if wholesale stands of trees have to be cut down, quite expensive.

So what's the big deal about losing a few trees? Ash trees are great shade trees that cool homes and yards and add property value. They help retain storm water. Instead of running off uselessly into storm sewers, ash trees help the soil hold heavy rainwater. Ash trees, among others, lend character to our community - that "small town" look and feel that we so highly value.

For these reasons and more, I encourage - no, I urge you - to start learning about ash trees and the emerald ash borer. My best advice in the near term is to visit www.emeraldashborer.info on the internet. Find out now what an ash tree looks like, if you have an ash tree in your yard, and, if you do, determine if it has shown signs of infestation. Look around your neighborhood to see if your neighbors have ash trees as well. The rule of thumb is that if your home is within 10-15 miles of an infected tree, you can assume that your ash trees are at risk. EAB has been found in Du Quoin, so that answers that.

Also, Perry County is under a quarantine order from the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Most likely the emerald ash borer arrived in Perry County by way of firewood transported from an infested area to here. In turn, do not transport firewood cut in Perry County to other parts of the state, particularly south and/or east of the county.

With winter approaching, there are some preliminary steps that can be taken to learn about the problem and identify ash trees now. Treatment options are usually undertaken in the spring, and can either be done by the property owner or professionally. Let's not waste time in the "off-season", but instead use the next few months productively to prepare in the coming spring to kick this unwelcome little worm out of town for good. Our beautiful ash trees are at risk. What we do in the coming months will likely determine whether or not they remain here for future generations.