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11/20/2018 03:54 PMTree-lined streets are a hallmark of the region, but recent, widespread insect damage to those trees is creating problems statewide, causing threats to public safety, utilities, traffic flow, and to local town budgets.
The tree damage is largely the work of gypsy moths, which primarily feed on oaks but will attack other species, and the emerald ash borer, which affects ash trees. But the problem is exacerbated by many other factors, such as the recent drought that not only stressed trees, but actually made for favorable conditions for gypsy moth caterpillar.
The bumper crop of damaged trees becomes even more of a challenge in winter, when storms and snow loads make it more likely the trees will come down in a roadway or onto power lines. Towns are struggling to address the problem, said Westbrook First Selectman Noel Bishop.
“The state is responsible for [trees on] the state roads, like Route 1 and so on, for maintaining and making sure that the trees are not in any hazardous condition. Eversource responds when a tree falls on a wire” or is in danger of interfering with wires, he said.
That leaves trees along all other local roads under the purview of the town.
“This is a highly specialized, somewhat dangerous activity,” Bishop said. “You need highly trained people to do it. Most of our municipalities, including Westbrook, don’t have people to do it.”
The Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG) is a body of 17 local towns whose officials meet to address issues of concern to all the member towns and seek solutions through cooperation.
“The COG is looking into using resources, whether equipment or people, collectively,” said RiverCOG Executive Director Samuel Gold.
A recent meeting addressed just this issue among RiverCOG staff, Eversource, and representatives from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP).
“So many trees need to come down and it’s difficult getting qualified tree removal crews,” said Gold. “There are not enough of them and towns don’t have enough money to fully address the problem.”
Old Saybrook keeps “a tree list every year,” said Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr. The list currently has 25 trees on it, 10 of which require only pruning. Each winter, the town invites bids from pruning and removal companies in an effort to secure lower costs.
This year, “All these guys are so busy. It’s hard to get bids even through the winter,” Fortuna said.
Financially strapped towns, many of which did not anticipate having to remove such large numbers of trees, are focusing on those that present the greatest risk.
“There’s a lot of dead trees in town,” Fortuna added. “When we get calls we note them, we attempt to add them as soon as we can. But it’s a money thing. Between the State of Connecticut, Eversource, and the towns, we are all chasing the same problem.”
Fortuna also noted that the town plants new trees whenever possible to replace those that are removed.
The Root of the Problem
Thomas Worthley, an associate extension professor at UConn Extension with a joint appointment at UConn’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, explained that stress diminishes trees’ capacity to fight off infestations.
“A tree, being a living organism, like anything else is sort of analogous with respect to old age and response to disease and response to stress,” said Worthley. “Stress for a tree would be things like drought, things like dense growing conditions, not enough space, not enough light. There’s all kinds of other organisms out there in the environment that would be considered diseases or pests or annoyances for trees. Sometimes they’re just minor annoyances but can become major problems if the tree is under other stress.”
Some tree damage is expected, of course, and the emerald ash borer damage has been monitored for some time, with experts predicting that most of the state’s mature ash trees would die off gradually, Worthley said. With oaks, there’s an expectation of losing some to gypsy moths each year.
“We always lose some, but most would refoliate,” said Worthley. “Most produce new leaves and manage to recover. But in the winter of 2017 to 2018, we found out that a lot of trees didn’t make it through the winter. It was unanticipated and somewhat unprecedented.”
Some oaks, such as white oak, are particularly sensitive to drought and defoliation. The effects are worse on older trees.
“It’s analogous to giving the flu to a 90-year-old person,” Worthley said.
Many remember the Connecticut gypsy moth infestation of 1981, in which 80 percent of the state’s forestlands, were defoliated. In response to the upsurge in gypsy moth caterpillars, other organisms included fungi, viruses, and predators were able to reduce drastically the caterpillar population and subsequently keep it in check. One fungus, Entomophaga maimaiga, lives in moist soil and kills caterpillars when they descend from the trees on threads and bury themselves in the soil to molt. The fungus thrived during a particularly wet spring in 1989, drastically reducing the gypsy moth population. In 2016 and 2017, however, a statewide drought dried out the soil, killing off much of the fungus. By the time the fungus returned in late 2017, the damage had already been done, Worthley said.
The Size of the Problem
Worthley recently conducted a study that indicates the magnitude of the issue.
“A sampling of local roads in Haddam…where mortality from both gypsy moth and emerald ash borer is occurring, counted 157 such high-potential-risk trees on a 22-mile sampling of road segments for an average of about 7 problem trees per mile,” he stated.
At a cost of $500 to $1,000 per tree for removal, just this sampling of trees could cost the town of Haddam between $78,500 and $157,000. State records indicate that Haddam has close to 100 miles of local roads—nearly five times the sample size.
Westbrook’s Noel Bishop understands the problem.
“It’s a financial challenge for our town,” he said. “It’s a challenge for all of our towns. In our town, our tree maintenance budget is much too modest.”
He hopes to increase the amount of money the town allocates for tree maintenance, emphasizing the need to build up reserves, in case of future emergencies.
Bishop said Eversource is doing the best job possible to remove trees that are potentially hazardous to electrical wiring, but the company is struggling to keep up. The electricity company for many years has contracted with private businesses to trim trees away from the power lines, but the number of companies qualified to do the work is relatively small and with so many damaged and dead trees in the state, triage is required.
“Eversource is targeting trees that endanger power lines that affect the most people, then working backwards from there,” Gold said.
Eversource is investing $80 million this year in tree trimming and hazardous tree removal, work that goes on year-round, said spokesman Mitch Gross. The company has had to petition the state to increase funding for maintenance, as its expenditures are regulated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
Eversource services 149 of the state’s 169 towns, overseeing 17,000 miles of overhead lines. Every year, one quarter of the length—more than 4,000 miles—must be maintained. This year, the extent of the damage along those lines is far more severe than in years past.
In Westbrook, the Department of Public Works takes care of tree maintenance that is not addressed by the state or Eversource. It’s a tall order for a small department.
“We only have six people in our Public Works Department,” said Bishop. “They’re responsible for all public works projects in the town.”
Bishop is hopeful that the RiverCOG will enable towns to address the problem through cooperation and shared services.
“Could we share a bucket truck, a tree arborist? The difficulty is that it takes a highly trained person to cut down trees,” he says. “Maybe as we go down the road, by the town kicking in some money we can have a shared service…We’ve only in the last decade come to realize how serious the tree maintenance issues are for our respective communities.”