A Cost/Benefit Analysis of Varying Emerald Ash Borer Management Strategies in the Chicago Area

Summary

Emerald Ash Borer was first identified in Illinois in a suburb of Chicago in 2006.  Since then, EAB has spread to forty-one counties, almost half of the State.  Initial community level approaches to EAB were informed by State and Federal agencies that were further informed by four years of infestation in Michigan, Indiana and Ontario.      

A range of management strategies were devised that eventually settled into two general categories; remove and replace and chemical treatment.  Having learned from the earlier response to Dutch Elm Disease forty years prior, most municipalities opted to remove and replace.  Depending on the source, the information provided to Illinois residence and municipalities seemed to provide conflicting information on costs, results and policies.

This presentation will provide a narrative and results from a one-year policy and cost study of twenty-three municipal EAB programs.  The study evaluated projected costs against actual costs and the evolution of management strategies.