CONCORD, N.C. — Part of a Concord park is being closed for several days as crews work to remove several trees.
The Cabarrus County government said more than 50 dead ash trees will be removed from the Wetland Trail at Vietnam Veterans Park, located off Orphanage Road. The trees need to be removed as a matter of public safety.
The county government says emerald ash borers are to blame. The small beetles feed on the tissues beneath the bark, weakening the trees. This makes the trees susceptible to breakage from high winds.
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According to the North Carolina Forest Service, the emerald ash borer was first found in the country in 2002, near Detroit, Michigan. The beetles are now found in many midwestern and eastern states and have killed millions of ash trees across the country.
The beetles are native to China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and far-east Russia per the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They likely arrived hidden in wood packing material used to ship consumer goods.
The department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) launched a biological control program in 2007 to combat the beetles by using stingless species of wasps known as parasitoids. The wasps don't target humans or pets and instead are drawn to the borers. While the total eradication of emerald ash borers can't be achieved with the wasps, APHIS said in a 2020 publication they can help as part of pest management.