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Plano taking steps against inevitable tree beetle danger

The Emerald Ash Borer was first found in North Texas in Tarrant County in 2018. Scientists believe the devastating invasive species has the potential to wipe out Ash trees in North Texas.

PLANO, Texas — It is the threat that nearly every city in North Texas will soon have to face.

A relatively unknown invasive species called the Emerald Ash Borer is becoming more talked about in forestry and entomology circles.

The city of Plano is already taking preventative steps to minimize the destruction of Ash trees through out the city. 

"If you have an Ash tree, eventually these beetles are going to find it," said Texas A&M Agrilife Extension entomologist Mike Merchant, Ph.D. 

The Emerald Ash Borer is an Asian species first found in the U.S. in 2002. But it was first found in North Texas last year in Tarrant County. That has cities on high alert where Ash trees are prevalent.

"I dedicated my life to trees for a reason. But at the same time we can't get to a point....health and safety is our primary," said Plano urban forester Angela Kralik. 

She took WFAA to Oak Point Park, where there is a large concentration of Ash trees.

Ash trees will die within 3 to 5 years after being attacked by the beetle. The city of Plano has already started cataloging all the Ash trees. Next week they'll start removing poor Ash trees before the beetle gets to them.

"A little larva will hatch out and burrow through the bark and basically choke the tree," Merchant said.

Mike Sills is with the Texas A&M Forest Service. He does surveys and puts out traps for the Emerald Ash Borer. None have been trapped in Dallas County, but he says it's only a matter of time.

"What we're really concerned with is the I-35 corridor. People moving and transporting that ash wood in and out of the county," Sills said.

In all, 6 percent of Plano's trees are Ash, and about 1,400 are planted. All of those trees are now threatened. Kralik says the city stopped planting them.

"Communities need to start preparing for this," Sills said.

Dr. Merchant says treatments for trees are also options in individual cases.

Soon all cities in North Texas will need to start looking at options before the likely reality the Ash tree becomes extinct locally.

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