An emerald ash borer. /USDA photo, public domain
You may noticed a change in the look of Fox River County Park, where hundreds of ash trees have been cut down in recent weeks as a way to stop the spread of emerald ash borer.
There’s no other way to stop the destructive insect. Ash trees in other county parks have been cut too.
But in an effort to try to not have a repeat of the same kind of problem, Kenosha County’s reforestation plan for Fox River Park calls for replacing the ash trees with 27 different species, said Kenosha County Parks Director Jon Rudie. Over the next three years, Kenosha County will plant an additional 500 trees within Fox River Park, Petrifying Springs Park and Golf Course and Brighton Dale Links Golf Course. As part of the comprehensive reforestation plan, Kenosha County Parks has already planted over 2,000 trees over the past five years.
Having so many different tress should help prevent a disease or pest that effects just one species — like the emerald ash borer and ash trees — wipe out a huge number of trees, Rudie explained.
The logging being done at Fox River County Park in Salem, Petrifying Springs County Park in Somers and the county’s Brighton Dale Golf Course in Brighton is costing about $78,000, Rudie said. That cost was reduced by allowing the logging company to take possession of all of the cut trees to be resold by the logger as various products.
While the effect of the cutting may be noticeable now, Rudie said the end effect will be a stronger more diverse tree stock. He praised the County Board and County Executive Jim Kreuser for being progressive enough to tackle the problem in this way.
“It’s ugly at first, but it will be OK,” Rudie said.
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Readers photos: Results of logging at Fox River Park
Fox River Park to close starting Feb. 15 while ash trees are removed
Ash tree logging will close two local county recreational facilities temporarily
