City Of Sioux Falls Says Might Be Time To Cut Down Your Ash Trees

The City of Sioux Falls has cut down almost 17,000 Ash Trees because of the Emerald Ash Borer infestation. It might be time to remove the Ash Trees on your property.

While Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation has removed nearly 17,000 ash trees from City-owned property since 2019, an estimated 45,000 ash trees still stand on private land posing an extreme risk to homes and property.

The City of Sioux Falls points out that the Emerald Ash Borer is a destructive insect that weakens ash trees from the inside out, causing them to become brittle and fall unexpectedly.

Obviously, this could be dangerous.

Parks and Recreation's forestry team conducts an annual survey to identify and remove dead, diseased, or insect-infested trees that may pose a risk to residents and property.

The recent forest health survey issued 530 orders to remove ash trees this year, which tripled compared to 2023.

Don Kearney, Director of Parks and Recreation, said: “What concerns us is that some people think EAB was a temporary infestation.

We are here to tell you the EAB is here to stay, and we anticipate that more and more trees will be identified for removal on private property.

The number of trees could easily increase from 530 this year to double or triple that number next year,”

Kearney went on to say...“We don’t want private property owners to be caught off guard, so we encourage them to be proactive.

Because so many ash trees are still standing on private property, consider scheduling removal this fall if your budget allows. If immediate removal isn’t possible, prioritize it for next spring.”

The longer residents wait to remove infested ash trees, the more expensive it becomes. Currently, removal by a licensed arborist costs around $800 to $1,000.

However, as EAB weakens the wood, removal becomes more hazardous and expensive.

Schedule or consult a licensed arborist. A list of licensed arborists is available at siouxfalls.gov/EAB.