The Franklin Township Shade Tree Commission is conducting a Hazardous Tree Assessment and Ash Tree inventory of all trees on Township right-of-ways.  The inventory will provide the Township with information it needs to develop a tree management and replacement plan for Township lands.

As part of this work you may see blue tags on trees along the road.  The blue tags have been placed by the Township’s contracted Licensed Tree Expert (LTE).  These tags do not indicate the Township will perform work on these trees; it only indicates they have been GPS (Global Positioning System) tagged with corresponding information obtained and recorded in a database by the LTE.

Some trees are tagged due to the tree’s hazardous condition and its proximity to the right-of-way.  Some hazardous trees might only require dead wood pruning, while others are tagged for future removal. 

Every ash trees on Township roads are also included in the inventory because of the Emerald Ash Borer.  If you have not heard, the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has infested a good majority of Franklin Township’s ash trees.  This invasive beetle from Asia will kill 99.7% of our ash trees.  The insect bores into ash trees killing them within a few years.  Dead ash trees are very brittle and will quickly fall apart, making them extremely unsafe.  Many of the tagged trees along Franklin’s street are ash trees. 

To find more information about this beetle and how to identify if you have an ash tree, please see www.emeraldashborer.nj.gov.  For more information about the Shade Tree Commission, visit www.franklintwpnj.org/