The emerald ash borer, a destructive wood-boring insect, has destroyed millions of ash trees in the United States. Although it cannot be eradicated, the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program believes that recruiting community volunteers to educate residents about this pest will expand the state's outreach capacity and increase awareness to slow the spread, giving municipalities and property owners time to develop a cost-effective response to managing this invader.
Relevance
Invasive pests such as the emerald ash borer (EAB) can change the nature and functioning of Vermont's forests and cost municipalities thousands of dollars to manage infested hazard trees. EAB is in Vermont, and although it cannot be eradicated, informed residents can slow the spread, giving municipalities and property owners time to plan and spread out costs associated with management.
Response
The Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program (VT UCF) partnered with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation; the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets; and the Vermont Land Trust on EAB Awareness Week, held May 15-22, 2021, sending out press releases and social media posts to raise awareness. In addition, VT UCF provided support and gave away EAB Awareness Week Toolkits to the first nine towns that submitted requests plus supplied an additional two towns that held events with other outreach materials. Volunteers in the Forest Pest First Detector program and members of Conservation Commissions in each of the 11 municipalities created publicity and outreach and education events in their communities. These included articles and press releases, guided ash tree walks, presentations, ash tree tagging events, community displays, and event booths.
Results
As a result, residents are learning about EAB and management options from other residents of their communities. As an example, a Forest Pest First Detector, who is also a town tree warden and forest owner, used materials and support from the VT UCF program to put together an invasive pest awareness booth at his town's Memorial Day Celebration, the largest and best attended town-wide event every year. Using his knowledge of the community, this individual picked the right event to host a display booth, was able to recruit a Conservation Committee member to help staff it, and placed the booth in a high-traffic location next to the fire department's BBQ booth. As a result, approximately 60 town residents received information about the threat of this invasive pest and management options for different types of property (yard, forest, and municipal) through one-on-one conversations and educational literature, including wallet-size EAB identification cards. An often-heard comment was, "I didn't know that." These outreach and education efforts by community volunteers have greatly expanded the state's outreach capacity for disseminating EAB information.
Public Value Statement
In recent years, EAB has become a significant threat to urban and community forests in Vermont and many other states as it kills both stressed and healthy ash trees that not only beautify neighborhoods, but provide shade to cool streets and homes. Loss of these trees has a staggering economic impact on communities that need to spend thousands of dollars to manage or remove infested trees and replace with other species. Increasing public awareness will encourage people to take action to help the places where they live, work, and play to better manage this invasive pest through information sharing as well as monitoring and reporting of trees suspected to be infested.