While the city of Marshall has taken action to replace some ash trees in city parks, many still remain on public property. Areas like the right-of-way near the Marshall fire hall and the Marshall-Lyon County Library still have a lot of ash trees, said Marshall Parks and Recreation Superintendent Preston Stensrud. The city is applying for grant funds to replace ash trees, to protect against emerald ash borer.

MARSHALL — For the past couple of years, the city of Marshall has been working to replace trees that could be threatened by the emerald ash borer. But there’s still a long way to go, Marshall Parks and Recreation Superintendent Preston Stensrud said this week.

“On the city side of it, as of today we have 1,732 ash trees on public property,” Stensrud told Marshall City Council members on Tuesday. Stensrud said the city is applying for grant funds to help replace at-risk ash trees, and treat healthy ones.

The presence of emerald ash borer, an insect that feeds on and eventually kills ash trees, was confirmed in Marshall this summer. Since then, the city has regularly gotten questions from members of the public about what to do for their trees, Stensrud said.

“There’s really some choices people have to make,” he said. If homeowners are committed to keeping their trees long-term, it is possible to treat ash trees with an insecticide that protects them from emerald ash borer. The treatments need to be repeated every couple of years, and need to be done by a certified contractor, Stensrud said.

The other option would be to remove ash trees, especially ones that are already unhealthy and pose a safety risk.

Stensrud said Marshall is applying for a couple of different state grants to help protect or replace ash trees on city property. One of the grants they’ve applied for is a ReLeaf Community Forestry Grant through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

“We would use this particular grant to remove some ash trees along right-of-ways,” Stensrud said.

The city is requesting $329,000 in grant funds to help replace 75 ash trees in low-income areas of Marshall.

According to the city’s grant application, there are currently a total of 635 ash trees on the city right-of-way in Marshall.

Stensrud said the grant funds would be used to focus on a couple of different things. The city’s first priority would be to remove unhealthy ash trees that would pose safety risks, Stensrud said. They would also plant two new trees for each tree removed. If a property owner didn’t want the new trees on the right-of-way on their property, the trees would be planted in city parks instead, he said.

The city also plans to use grant funds to offer reimbursements to low-income property owners to remove ash trees, as well as to provide educational opportunities for Marshall residents, and treat healthy ash trees in parks.

Stensrud said Marshall is also applying for a shade tree grant. This grant would help pay for ash tree removals in areas like city parks, around the Marshall-Lyon County Library and the Marshall fire station, and near the Red Baron Arena and Amateur Sports Complex.

“Right now I’m proposing to take out 75 more (ash) trees in parks. We still have 372,” he said. Stensrud was also proposing to plant 200 new trees. The planting work would be done by contractors, he said. If the city is awarded grants, they would have three years to complete the work.

Stensrud said Thursday that the city should find out in October or November whether they were awarded grant funds. If they don’t get grants this year, they will keep applying, he said.

Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes thanked Stensrud for his work on the grants. Emerald ash borer “will certainly change the tree canopy and landscape within city of Marshall,” Byrnes said. Careful planning could help prevent a large die-off of trees in the city, he said.