We must address emerald ash borer like we did Dutch elm disease

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"Storms make trees take deeper roots."

Dolly Parton's words should ring louder now more than ever to Minnesotans as we stare down the storm of our trees from emerald ash borer (EAB) and the devastating effects of the climate crisis.

EAB, an invasive insect that attacks and kills ash trees, is the most destructive invasive forest pest Minnesota has ever encountered. Think about that for a second. Even more destructive than the Dutch elm disease that ravished elm trees in the 1970s?

Our efforts to stem EAB must take root fast.

Minnesota is home to an estimated 1 billion ash trees. One in five community trees are ash. In some communities, ash trees make up 60% of the trees.

The ecological benefit of ash trees is unquestioned. According to the University of Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center, urban ash trees help reduce air pollution, stormwater runoff and cooling costs, while also increasing property values, and natural ash stands have significant economic, ecological and cultural value. Significant loss of ash trees undoubtedly poses a climate threat.

Throughout Minnesota, EAB continues to spread and decimate ash trees. It has reached an ecological crisis facing our cities and counties as they struggle to keep up with the pace of infestations. All you have to do is look across our state in rural, urban and suburban communities and you'll see dead ash trees all around.

First discovered in Minnesota in 2009, EAB is compared by many arborists to Dutch elm disease. According to a 2019 EAB Interagency Report, Minnesota invested more than $70 million (which would equate to about $290 million today) to combat Dutch elm disease, which affected 140 million Minnesota elm trees. With an estimated 1 billion ash trees, EAB's impacts are on a much larger scale.

Compare that with what the state has so far invested in EAB. Since 2009, the Legislature has appropriated roughly only $18 million to combat EAB, with a bulk of it coming in recent years. We need to do more.

Since the House DFL came into the majority of the Minnesota House in 2019, we have made EAB response a top priority and have pushed the issue to be at the forefront of environmental budget deliberations.

Throughout the past few years, we have invested more than $12 million toward EAB, with a bulk of the funding going toward grants to local units of government to address this crisis. Given the recent increase in the spread of this destructive pest, more investments are critical.

Additionally, the Legislature also grappled with the question of where EAB-infested trees go after they are taken down.

In 2021, the Legislature passed a bill that I chief-authored to help handle tree waste in Minnesota. The bill, after years of negotiations between Xcel and District Energy, enables District Energy to continue to use wood from trees cut down to prevent the spread of EAB as a fuel source. Xcel Energy will continue purchasing some of the electricity the plant produces. This will help communities dispose of tree waste and deal with the devastation wrought by EAB. However, this is a short-term solution.

As you can see, addressing EAB is a multifaceted issue. Strong, problem-solving action is needed.

Yes, we have made some progress in slowing the spread of this disease, but now, more than ever, we need to make this a top priority of the Legislature. To make meaningful progress, Republicans must join DFLers in our commitment to addressing the urgency of the problem by delivering greater investments.

To weather this storm, we need to plant more trees and deal with the rapidly increasing numbers of dead trees.

Now is the time to act. We can begin now.

Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, is the chair of the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee.