Loans could help replace trees

Northern Illinois communities could receive state funding to help replace trees destroyed by emerald ash borers.

Legislation signed Sunday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich created the Emerald Ash Borer Revolving Loan Program, which provides low-cost loans to municipalities for replanting trees on public land, according to information from the state. The land must be within the state’s emerald ash borer quarantine area, which includes Kane, DuPage and McHenry counties plus 15 other counties.

Trees on the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory property and in the Batavia Industrial Park on Fabyan Parkway have been found to have emerald ash borers.

The Illinois Finance Authority will administer the program and issue loans to eligible communities based on Illinois Department of Agriculture recommendations. The loans must be paid in 20 years.

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic-green insect from Asia that first was discovered in the United States near Detroit in 2002. The first beetle detection in Illinois occurred in June 2006 in a rural Kane County subdivision west of St. Charles. Since then, infestations have been identified along Lake Michigan in north Cook County, near Peru in LaSalle County and in Glendale Heights in DuPage County.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1617, is effective immediately.

-NorthWest News Group