There is a bug versus tree battle going on in parts of the northwest metro.
The Emerald Ash Borer continues to be a problem. But, Plymouth has a new way to fight the pest by tracking infestation with an interactive map on the web.
One thing is certain, this tiny insect can topple a huge tree. The Emerald Ash Borer is causing havoc across the country, including the northwest metro. City officials in Plymouth say information in this battle could be a good weapon.
"What's going on in my neighborhood?" said Plymouth City Forester Paul Buck. "What trees are being treated? What isn't and how close is it?"
An interactive online map to track trees that are treated and those that are infected is a preemptive strike against this destructive pest.
"It just helps everybody kind of know, what's going in my neighborhood and how far away or how close am I to the infestation center," Buck said.
Red dots are infected trees. Blue dots are treated trees and green is untreated. Residents can chart this on their computer.
"Now they can track this visually," Buck said, "and they can really see how close they are to the site versus where their house is."
The eastern shore of Medicine Lake is ground zero for this insect invasion. Six trees have EAB and two have been removed from a boulevard near the shoreline.
"If it starts heading north," Buck said, "these people that have green trees might have to decide, quicker than later, do I want to treat them or do I want to cut them down?"
The cost to treat these trees is between $150 and $250, depending on the size of the tree. It requires five to six treatments spread out over a decade. The total cost is roughly $1,000.
Or you could just cut it down, which is exactly what Plymouth resident Glen Anderson did as he removed six ash trees.
"We just cut it up," Anderson said, "and take it over to the city of Plymouth waste yard and let them grind it up for chips or whatever they do with it."
Unfortunately the Emerald Ash Borer can alter the look of a neighborhood.
"It'll definitely change just like the elm trees did when they all left," Anderson said. "That's just one of them things that just happens."
Plymouth residents can enter their address into the data base and update the city on whether trees in their yard have been treated or not.
Eric Nelson, reporting
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Channel 12 is on Comcast cable in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis and includes the cities Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale.

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