Many ash trees were planted in Fridley following the 1965 tornado and the loss of elm trees to dutch elm disease. Based on a survey of the City's street and park trees, over 30% of Fridley's urban tree canopy is comprised of ash. Losing these ash trees all at once would be devastating to the City's urban forest and removing such a large quantity of trees simultaneously would be prohibitively expensive.
The City is currently managing ash trees on public lands and right-of-ways under the City of Fridley EAB Mitigation Plan. This plan was developed to prevent the spread of EAB, save high value ash trees, diversify the City's urban forest, and reduce the costs of tree removal. The full plan can be viewed here.
If you have an ash tree in your yard, start preparing for EAB now. Once an ash tree starts to die, it can quickly become a safety concern. You can decide to remove the tree and replace it with a different species or plan to chemically treat the ash to prevent infection. Ash trees must be treated every 1-3 years. This calculator can help you estimate the cost of treating your ash trees.
Some chemicals used to treat EAB can be harmful to beneficial insects such as pollinators if applied improperly. If you are interested in treating your ash tree, call a Fridley-licensed tree company and request that the treatment be applied as a systemic injection. Systemic injections are the most effective form of treatment and are the least likely to adversely impact pollinators. Avoid using treatments that are applied as soil drenches, which can leach into water or drift to pollinator habitat.