Wednesday, September 2, 2015
By February of 2004, the City of Troy tree trimming crews had removed more than 200 dead and dying White Ash trees infected by the Emerald Ash Borer. All of these trees were on City-owned property.
That year, the Michigan Department of Agriculture distributed $1.2 million dollars allocated through the U.S. Department of Agriculture for ash tree removal. Troy used its $130,000 grant to hire J.H. Hart to remove 2,000 more trees by November. The company worked section by section to systematically remove not just dying ashes, but all ashes on City property, including rights-of-way. J.H. Hart started the first week of September in Section 25, between John R and Dequindre and Maple and Big Beaver, and had removed 1,200 trees in that section alone by mid-October.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources also initiated the Emerald Ash Borer Tree Planting Grant program, and awarded the City of Troy $20,000 for replacement trees. Replanting didn’t start until spring 2005 because the City needed to purchase a large variety of trees. New guidelines stipulated that no more than 10 percent of replacement trees could be of any one species. This guideline was to prevent the devastation caused by pest or disease in a monoculture from recurring.
Sources:
Parks and Recreation Board minutes, February 12, 2004, September 9, 2004, and October 21, 2004
City Council, May 24, 2004, agenda item J-02f
City Council, July 19, 2004, agenda item J-02b
City Council 2004 archive: https://www.troymi.gov/Government/CityCouncil/Meetings/Archive.aspx?Board=CityCouncil&Year=2004
Parks and Recreation Board 2004 archive: https://www.troymi.gov/Government/BoardsandCommittees?Board=parksandrecreationboard&Year=2004
To commemorate the City of Troy’s 60th Anniversary in 2015, we will publish a different story each day that highlights a person, discovery, or event that occurred locally, regionally, nationally, or even globally between 1955 and 2015 and that helped shape our lives and our community. We will try to post stories on important anniversary dates, but we also realize that dates are less critical than content and context. We will include the facts related to controversial stories, allowing our readers to form their own opinions. We invite you to read and comment on the stories. Your suggestions for topics are also welcome and can be posted on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TroyHistoricVillage. You can also email stories or ideas to the 365 Story Editor at ed@thvmail.org.
