City of Chesterfield awarded MDOC TRIM Grant for the removal of declining Ash trees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

September 9, 2014 

City of Chesterfield awarded Missouri Department of Conservation TRIM Grant for the removal of declining Ash trees.  

The Missouri Department of Conservation has awarded the City of Chesterfield a $10,000 TRIM Grant for the removal of declining Ash trees at the Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex, located at 17925 North Outer 40 Road in Chesterfield, Missouri. The TRIM grant, which stands for Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance, will cover the removal of declining Ash trees with the replacement with a diverse mix of tree species appropriate for the facility. 

The City of Chesterfield’s urban forest that is made up of 20% Ash species, the most populous species by a wide margin. The overpopulation of this species is a concern due to the threat of the Emerald Ash Borer, an exotic beetle pest that infests the Ash species, typically destroying the tree within five years. The Emerald Ash Borer has already killed more than 30 million Ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone.  Experts recommend that no genus make up more than 10% of an urban tree population, and no species make up more than 5% of the population.

To combat this problem, the City of Chesterfield has enacted an Ash Management Program to reduce the number of public Ash trees by at least 5% per year by removing dead and declining Ash trees on an ongoing basis. The TRIM grant will aid this program to reduce the number of ash trees within Chesterfield and increase the diversity of our tree population through replanting.