Taking care of our Urban Forest means protecting our Wausau quality of life. Properly planned and managed, the urban forest provides significant ecological, social and economic benefits that promote the well-being of our community. Research proves that healthy trees beautify the community, increase property values, help improve air and water quality, reduce erosion and storm water runoff, reduce greenhouse gases by absorbing carbon dioxide, save energy, keep the city cooler, reduce noise, calm traffic, provide homes for wildlife and enhance livability.

The purpose of the following specifications is to help ensure all City of Wausau residents get to experience the tree benefits previously listed. These specifications will provide guidelines to improve and sustain the City of Wausau’s urban forest health. An important aspect of these benefits is the presence of mature, healthy trees in the city, which can be appreciated through tree preservation methods, sound new planting specifications, and promoting species diversity.

 Click here to explore the Wausau Tree Planting and Preservation Manual

What is the Emerald Ash Borer?
The Emerald Ash Borer is an exotic beetle originating from its native Asia and currently spreading throughout Wisconsin and other states in the upper middle and eastern United States and Canada.  The larvae feed on the inner bark of Ash trees eventually killing the trees.  EAB was discovered in Green Bay in 2012 and in Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids in 2016.  2020 Wausau discovered the presence of EAB.
 

Please view the City of Wausau Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan which has been updated October 2021

The plan includes the following points:

• Progressive removal of all boulevard ash trees within the next 12-15 years
• Treatment of most remaining ash trees to prevent premature failure/mortality
• Replacement trees planted where ash trees were removed to ensure future canopy coverage and other benefits trees provide

If you have an ash in your boulevard and would like to request removal outside of the planned schedule, or for any other tree related requests please contact the Park Office at (715) 261-1550 or e-mail:parkforestry@co.marathon.wi.us

Additional information regarding ash and other tree related topics can be found below.

• Click here to review what the University of Wisconsin Horticulture Division of the Extension recommends on how to protect your tree from the Emerald Ash Borer.
• Click here to review a two page color flyer that provides home owners good information on EAB and assessing their trees before they become a safety issue.
• Here is a pdf of a PowerPoint presentation for the proposed Emerald Ash Borer Street Tree Management Plan presented at the August 1 meeting.

Homeowners with concerns regarding trees on adjacent property that potentially threaten their safety or property have options to assist in mitigating that threat.

The first course of action would be to simply talk to the property owner about the tree or trees in question. Often a reasonable discussion will result in a reasonable resolution.

If this option does not result in a resolution you may contact an ISA Certified Arborist. The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) is a professional green industry organization.  An ISA “Certified Arborist” has documented knowledge of tree industry accepted practices developed by some of the nation’s leading experts on tree care. ISA Certified Arborists for hire can be located through the ISA website at www.isa-arbor.com.  An evaluation by a qualified professional can be used to document the condition of a tree or group of trees. This official documentation can be mailed to an adjacent property owner that the condition has been identified and corrective action may be needed.

Notifying your property insurer may be another option that damage to your property is possible and they may be able to assist you.

The following link is from a Minnesota publication regarding nuisance trees:
http://www.myminnesotawoods.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MNLawTrees-HazardTreesPrivate.pdf.

Another link is to the forest service and has many publications concerning hazard tree identification and options:

https://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/hazard_tree/

Finally, here is a link to an article in the ISTHMUS, an alternative weekly newspaper based in Madison, Wisconsin.  In the article, Bruce Allison, a consulting arborist from the Madison area explains in layman's terms, tree issues as they relate to property issues.  Mr Allison holds a PhD, is an author of tree related books and an internationally recognized tree expert:
http://isthmus.com/abode/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-neighborhood/

The laws regarding homeowner options and trees on property lines and trees that grow over property lines can be confusing. Park staff that work with tree issues routinely hear comments from property owners that “you can trim anything over the property line.” Removal of limbs, roots or other portions of trees growing over property lines cannot be indiscriminate and must take the health of the tree into consideration.

You may have seen the signs in passing and wondered what exactly it means to be a Tree City USA and why it is important to our community. To answer those questions it is important to take a step back to understand the history of why that program came into existence.

The Tree City USA designation is a recognition extended by an organization called the Arbor Day Foundation. This designation was created to illustrate, or highlight those communities that contributed resources to a municipal tree program. The reason this is important goes far beyond the trees themselves. It was recognized that businesses, developers, and employees would be more likely to ‘take root’ in a community when that community put resources into an urban forest.

In order to qualify as a Tree City USA, there are several core standards of sound urban forestry management that must be met annually. Those standards are: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and celebrating Arbor Day. The interesting part for Wausau is of the 43 years Tree City USA has been in existence, Wausau has achieved the status for 38 consecutive years. In fact, there are only five other communities in Wisconsin that have achieved status for that length of time or longer!

So now, when you see the sign as you enter Wausau indicating our status as a Tree City USA, you have a greater appreciation of what that really means to our community.