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2011 ANNUAL REPORT | DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS PAGE 7 Storm Damage on Groveland Road (May 2011) Oak tree in Silverview Park Utility work in Area D City Forestry Annual Report – Rick Wriskey, City Forestry Consultant There were three significant forestry-related events occurred or started in the year 2011: 1) a find of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) one quarter mile east of the Mounds View city limits in Shoreview; 2) a record breaking period of low precipitation from August to the year's end; and 3) the loss of trees due to a tornado that did great harm to nearby Cities, but only glanced through Mounds View destroying only a hundred trees or so and contributing to a small amount of structural damage. The City recovered quickly from the storm event. What happens as a result of the EAB find and the severe drought could impact the City for years to come. Trapping and sampling results as well as an in-depth inspection of ash trees in Mounds View nearest the Shoreview find revealed no evidence of ash borer at this time. It is the opinion of several experts, however, that it is likely the pest is present in early, unseen stages in the vicinity trees of the infection, as well as some locations just across I-35W in Mounds View. Response to, planning for, and management of EAB will be further developed in early 2012. Other than the storm damage, there were 78 hazard or nuisance trees removed by city and contract forces in 2011. Of these, 23 were green ash trees in parks or on boulevards removed for reasons of damage, hazard, and ill placement or crowding. It is of note that these, as well as many previous ash removals (in the last five years), have been done for valid reasons with an eye towards the oncoming arrival of Emerald Ash Borer. An additional 30 diseased elms and 20 diseased red oaks were removed from private and public property. The oak figure represents an oak wilt loss reduction of nearly 33% as compared to the previous year. There were 45 boulevard and park trees of varying species planted during 2011. Most of these were replacements for trees removed. Mounds View was designated a "Tree City USA" for the 29th consecutive year.