25 trees along one Dix Hills street fall victim to emerald ash borer

On a recent January morning, Dix Hills resident Perry Tepper awoke to the loud buzz of machinery outside. He wasn’t surprised; there's construction going on in his neighborhood.

But as it continued and he looked out his window, he was surprised to see that a green ash tree in front of his house, near the street, had been cut down by a work crew.

It was one of about 25 town-owned ash trees removed recently along Wildwood Drive, Huntington Town officials said.

The town said it is taking action to remove the trees from property it owns as they become infested with the emerald ash borer, an iridescent-green invasive beetle native to parts of Asia and Russia. The beetle has been eating its way through the bark of Long Island ash trees since around 2018, according to an insect expert at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County.

Town spokeswoman Chris Geed said the mass removal of trees on Wildwood Drive was a peculiar case given the street had all of the same species planted at curbside.

"Usually in the Town of Huntington there are multiple species on a street," she said. "On this particular roadway, the contractor planted all one species, making it a rare and unfortunate incident when all trees were impacted by the ash borer."   

Geed said because the trees were diseased, dying or dead and were in the town’s right of way, "it was the town’s responsibility to remove them.”

Hardy trees felled by bug

Ash trees were popular in landscaping, largely because of their hardy nature. The trees on Wildwood Drive were planted when the neighborhood was developed 30 years ago, town officials said. Green ash trees can grow to 70 feet tall or more, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service website.

Tepper said he was caught by surprise by the tree removals. He said no one came to the door that morning to let him know what was happening. 

“I’m disappointed the town didn’t do more ahead of time to make sure we knew they were going to be taking down our trees,” he said.

Town officials said its subcontractor, Conserv-A-Tree, notified Wildwood Drive residents by letter around Jan. 3 of the infestation in about 25 ash trees along the street. The letter, according to town officials, said the emerald ash borer is known to bore into trees and kill them from the inside, so it was necessary to remove the infested trees as a safety precaution. 

Conserv-A-Tree did not return calls for comment. Tree removal along the street started in early January. 

In an email to Newsday, Highway Superintendent Andre Sorrentino said while a tree may appear healthy or show only minor signs of distress, the presence of emerald ash borer means it is compromised.

“I can speak from personal experience — diseased or dead trees can cause severe damage or even death,” the email said. “If a tree has been marked to be removed, we’re going to take it down as soon as possible.”

The town would not provide a cost for removing the trees.

Sorrentino said since he took office in 2022, the town has removed hundreds of trees  that were infested with the beetle, although they look healthy. 

“The number of trees requiring removal at this point is minimal, but we continue to monitor and address any new cases as needed,” the email said.

Sorrentino said residents will be allowed to replace the trees from a variety of species paid for by the town. Geed said the cost of the replacement trees is between $250 and $500. 

Beetle seen in NY in 2009

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County entomologist Daniel Owen Gilrein said the emerald ash borer made its first New York appearance in Cattaraugus County in 2009. He said the first official report from Long Island was in early 2019, but that he saw evidence of the pest in 2018 in East Hampton.

Since its arrival in the United States in 2002, in Michigan, the insect has killed tens of millions of ash trees as it has made its way across 35 states and Washington, D.C., Gilrein said.

There are relatively few wild or native ash trees on Long Island; the majority are green ash trees in planted landscapes, he said.

“Well before EAB had arrived, we had been alerting arborists and other landscape professionals, nursery growers, gardeners, as well as parks and highway department staff that it was coming and to prepare,” Gilrein said.

He said those measures include identifying ash trees in the community and prioritizing them for protection versus removal. He said the best way to protect trees is to consult an arborist. But "don't wait," he said, adding that treatments include protectant bark insecticide sprays or trunk injection by a professional.

Gilrein said he assumes all ash trees on Long Island are vulnerable and nearly all unprotected trees will be killed by the pest. The beetle destroys the tree by laying its eggs on the tree bark, with the larvae then eating into the tree.

Last year, Glen Cove city officials announced they would be using more than $25,000 in state grants to replace ash trees damaged by the emerald ash borer with another plant species, Newsday previously reported.

In 2021, Smithtown officials removed infested ash trees in Kings Park, Nesconset and Commack, Newsday reported at the time.