“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Benjamin Franklin
As shown in the graphic below, non-native pests and disease spread can start slowly and later pick up momentum. This causes forest health to be placed on the backburner to the many pressing issues urban forest managers face. Additionally, local governments and city leaders tend to focus on the here and now, not what and when. That short-term planning can be costly. Cities who neglect to plan for anticipated threats will spend much more to respond and recover than those with strategies and resources already identified and initiated.
Public Information Campaigns
Public information campaigns can help build support, understanding, and collaboration for city leadership, staff and community members.
Campaigns stress the importances to city staff, who may not be aware, that early action on non-natives is their least expensive option.
At the same time, campaigns in collaboration with trusted community messengers and that incorporate community members feedback, builds knowledge and capacity in how their community can address their vulnerabilities to non-natives.
Imitate, Don't Recreate
The best places to look for guidance may be states and cities that already have strong forest health programs.
Below is one example and a sample checklist.
The State of Washington Urban Forest and Pest Readiness Playbook
This is a comprehensive guide to the process and actions that underlay successful forest pest programs. The Playbook includes a comprehensive tool that can measure your community’s capacity to mount its own tree health initiatives.
Even a quick review of the Playbook’s checklist on page 10 of the link below can reveal where changes and improvements are possible and where to take the results.
Shared Management
Success depends upon having the people, resources, and coalitions already in place to address current and emerging pests and diseases.
In Washington State, for example, all level of government share responsibilities managing forest health and resiliency.
Engage Volunteers
Engaged residents are often key to identify pests and diseases. In a study of 70 invasive pests in Washington State, researchers found that residents reported them first in 36% of the cases.
For example, Donna Massey, a Massachusetts homeowner, first discovered the Asian longhorned beetle in her own backyard.
Recruiting and Training volunteers
Many communities have developed programs that enlist residents — often members of local conservation groups — as community scientists. These training investments can produce important impact. The resources below reflect the role volunteers play, recruitment example and how to start a citizen science program.
Integrated Pest Management and Policy
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) encompasses a spectrum of approaches. It aims to minimize the impact of pests and diseases while supporting sustainable practices and maintaining ecosystem balance.
Key IPM Principles:
Identification and Monitoring: Accurate identification of pests and diseases and continuous monitoring to make informed decisions.
Setting Action Thresholds: Establishing a point at which action must be taken.
Prevention: Managing the environment to prevent pests and diseases from overwhelming an ecosystem.
Control: Evaluating and using the most effective and least risky control methods, including biological, mechanical and chemical controls.
Municipalities may adopt IPM as the framework through which they plan the management of tree pests and diseases. The aim is to tailor the response to a specific pest so it balances anticipated risks against the need to adopt the least harmful effects on people, plants, animals and the ecosystem itself.
Some jurisdictions have chosen to embed Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles into their municipal and/or state codes. Having a legal basis for action makes it easier to determine the best response to any given pest or disease and promotes public understanding of why timely actions are needed.
Austin, Texas, for instance, has committed to IPM and mandates compliance by developers, builders and property owners.
Costs, Resources and Funding
Management of pests, diseases and disasters can cost billions.
Here are two examples below.
Emerald Ash Borer
- Costs nationally exceed $10 billion
- Minneapolis, MN lost 40,000 trees or 20% of its public canopy
- St. Paul and Minneapolis have spent in total $50 million to date
- Both cities have a multi-year backlog for stump removal, at an estimated cost of $200 per tree
Asian Longhorned Beetle
- New York City removed 16,000 trees.
- The cost to remove a single tree can range from $500 to $5,000.
- New Jersey removed almost 22,000 trees before it declared the pest eradicated in 2013.
No single municipality own its own can set aside funds large enough to address to pests, diseases, and disasters from, for example, Emerald Ash Borer or Asian Longhorn Beetle. Because pests, diseases, and disasters cross municipal and state boundaries, significant resources and support may be combined from state and federal agencies.