The problem with a pure love of nature is occasionally nature acts in destructive ways, forcing the question how much money should be spent fighting Mother Nature. The Capital Times points out the issue in a story about a bug, the Emerald Ash Borer, at the borders.
City to protect or remove threatened ashes: Andrea Diss-Torrance, an entomologist with the DNR, told The Capital Times today that the clear-cutting technique is successful if a small "pioneer colony" of emerald ash borers is found. … Eddy said the state is planning to fund initial efforts against the emerald ash borer, but if funding dries up, the borer's bite might become big. "In Indiana there wasn't enough funding to eradicate it so nothing's been done," she said.In typical Capital Times disregard for the accuracy, there are absolutely no plans to protect individual trees. The City and County will completely participate in the Wisconsin DNR plan for killing and burning of every healthy Ash tree in a half mile area around any discovered infested tree. It makes no difference if the trees are public or private property. The DNR has little respect for private property and they are intent on saving nature from nature, even if it means sacrificing the lives a few trees so that the majority of the trees can live in safety.
A little green beetle from Asia called the Emerald Ash Borer is drifting outward from its original point of discovery in 2002 near Detroit, Michigan. The larval stage of the insect has killed millions of Ash trees. Michigan is working on Treatment/Control Options which include a USDA Quarantine of wood products. Last week the bug was confirmed in Kane County, Illinois just west of Chicago.
The question the DNR should answer is if Ash trees on private property can be shielded from state mandated destruction by use of one of the insecticide treatments proven to work against the beetle. This is a serious question because memories of Dutch Elm disease still haunt government officials and the clear cutting of healthy trees was an abysmal failure at stopping the beetle transmitted fungal disease, despite the huge amounts of public funds spent for the purpose.
I suspect the emerald ash borer, like the elm bark beetle, will not even notice a half mile clear cut zone. Ecosystems are constantly disturbed and they rebound back with changes and adaptations. After four years on the North American continent there is some evidence that natural predators are emerging to take advantage of this shift of the fauna. Still, nature works on much longer timeframes than government employees paid to believe they have a duty to keep nature natural, even if it means interfering.
