Emerald Ash Borer has invaded Colorado

It’s very small but causes massive destruction wherever it goes.

There is concern tonight about the emerald ash borer’s impact in Colorado.

The McKinley Tree stands tall near downtown Colorado Springs.

It received its name because it was planted on the day President William McKinley was shot. But that’s not its only interesting characteristic. It’s also an emerald ash tree, one of many being watched tonight.

Jay Hein, the city forester for Colorado Springs told us how many of these trees there are. Although the exact number is not known, he says: “probably around 30 000 or 40 000 of those trees would be ash trees.”

That’s a fifth of all of the trees on public land in the city. Now the McKinley Tree and others like it are facing trouble – from a tiny beetle.

“It’s about the length of a penny,” said Hein.

The emerald ash borer has found its way into the state, arriving in Boulder in September 2013.

According to Hein, trees in Boulder and nearby Denver that don’t look healthy – “they’re choosing to remove them if they’re an ash tree.

This invader is tough to beat. Once you treat an infected tree you have to keep treating it – until the bug or the tree is gone.

The adults are bad enough, but it’s the larvae that are the real threat.

“As those larvae hatch, they build canals through the cambium of the tree, which is essentially what winds up killing that tree,” said Hein.

So what can you do to protect your trees?

One way is to keep the beetle from spreading by getting firewood from areas that are not infested with the beetles.

The good news is that it hasn’t been found here in Colorado Springs and it travels very slowly.