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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Resolution 16-____ <br /> <br />A Resolution of the City of Elk River encouraging Governor Dayton and the <br />Minnesota Legislature to create a statewide program that supports and <br />protects community forests with a focus on the management of the Emerald <br />Ash Borer infestation <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />the preservation of our community forests is at a crucial point because <br /> <br />current public tree deaths far outpace tree replacement in Minnesota cities; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />community forests provide crucial environmental, economic, human health <br /> <br />and aesthetic benefits for our citizens; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />the average ash tree in the state of Minnesota provides approximately $170 in <br /> <br />benefits annually; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />ash trees comprise on average 20% of the trees in the state’s community <br /> <br />forests but many communities have ash tree populations totaling as much as 40%; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />an invasive species, the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), threatens to kill every <br />unprotected ash tree in Minnesota and the loss of these trees will have a profound effect on <br /> <br />everyone living in Minnesota; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />EAB cannot be effectively fought city by city just as epidemiologists cannot <br /> <br />effectively fight a human epidemic city by city; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />ash trees killed by EAB become brittle very quickly and become a public <br />hazard threatening overhead cables and power lines, vehicles, buildings, and people, cities <br />will have limited ability to manage the damage from EAB and the explosive increase in the <br /> <br />number of dead trees; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />peer-reviewed studies have confirmed that a coordinated, landscaped-based <br /> <br />strategy is more cost effective than a city-by-city approach; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />recent scientific advances have resulted in an integrated pest management <br />approach that includes detection techniques, pest control measures, and the protection of <br /> <br /> <br />high value, healthy trees; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, <br /> <br />modern methods preserve about four times as much of the tree canopy and <br />tree value over twenty years as the outdated approach that relied solely on tree removal <br />instead of pest control, yet it costs half as much and it helps protect untreated private ash <br /> <br /> <br />trees that are nearby; and <br /> <br />