The Elverson Shade Tree Commission was formed in 2009 for the purpose of protecting Elverson’s street trees. It was officially established with Ordinance no. 2009-09 consisting of five Borough residents. Ordinance 2009-09 is now found here under the title ‘Chapter 48 Shade Tree Commission’.
According to the Ordinance, if a resident would like to remove or replace a street tree on his/her property, he/she should apply by completing a permit which will be reviewed by the Commission and either approved or rejected. Further details can be found here under the title ‘§ 48-8 Powers and authorities’.
Our most important projects to date are:
• Organizing the species, number and placement of 56 street trees which were planted as part of Elverson’s Revitalization Project in 2011.
• Submitting and implementing a plan to receive compensation from Dupont for 29 street trees adversely affected by the herbicide called Imprelis.
• Ongoing monitoring of the 293 street trees on the Elverson Shade Tree Commission inventory list – responding to the need for trimming, removing, or replacing individual trees as needed.
• Our current task is focused on the future of our Borough Ash Trees. An article formerly printed in the Elverson Borough Newsletter described the situation and our EAB action plan.
An insect called the emerald ash borer (abbreviated as EAB) is a threat to every ash tree within the Borough. Beginning in 2002 with ash trees in Michigan, this insect worked its way east and was first found in Pennsylvania in 2007. As of October 2017, this destructive insect has now been detected in all 67 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. (A map showing the progression of EAB infestation across Pennsylvania can be seen here.)
There are about 300 million ash trees within the state of Pennsylvania, all of which are expected to die without treatment. A lot of good information is available at the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry website found here and an excellent brochure here.
The Elverson Tree Commission has adopted a management plan (seen here ) which began in the spring of 2015 to treat the 27 ash trees along South Pine Street, 5 in Livingood Park and 5 in Parkside.
