Mitigating Invasive Species and Restoring an Urban Tree Canopy

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Planting over 200 trees is cooling neighborhoods thereby protecting public health, as well as soaking up rain water to mitigate flooding in communities.

Approximately 30 million ash trees have been destroyed by the invasive emerald ash borer in southeast Michigan since the insect’s 2002 discovery in Detroit. Since then, the non-native bug with no natural predators has spread to five Canadian provinces and at least 35 U.S. states, causing the deaths of hundreds of millions of ash trees. The U.S. Forest Service, among many others, considers the emerald ash borer to be the most destructive and costly invasive forest insect in North America, with damages estimated in the tens of billions of dollars and climbing.

“For the city of Detroit, we lost over a million trees from the Emerald Ash Borer,” says Lionel Bradford, president and executive director of The Greening of Detroit, a local nonprofit and environmental group. The lack of trees can be devastating for local communities. Summer temperatures tend to be higher in urban areas with little to no tree canopy—the so-called heat-island effect—which can impact the health of communities. The lack of trees also can lead to more runoff pollution and flooding.

Littlefield is a community in Detroit in dire need of trees, according to American Forests, a national organization that evaluates neighborhoods across the country, as to whether there are enough trees in a community for everyone to experience the health, economic and climate benefits that trees provide. Many low-income communities often lack green space. Littlefield is a community primarily comprised of People of Color, has an 82% poverty rate, and a 22% unemployment rate.

But Littlefield has found strength as a community. The Littlefield Community Association partnered with The Greening of Detroit to help restore the community—and part of that is through the planting of trees.

Federal investments through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative are accelerating the planting of trees that provide benefits to people, wildlife, and water quality. In 2022, over 300 volunteers participated in a tree-planting project in Detroit’s Littlefield neighborhood. In total, 200 trees made up of 13 recommended species were planted in the neighborhood to offset the chances of another single species wipeout due to an invasive species like the emerald ash borer.

“Having a park that was just devastated by emerald ash borer as Littlefield was, and being able to begin restoring the canopy there, and putting those trees in the ground, working with partners to do that, I think it’s important because that’s the model,” says Bradford. “It shows the entire model of how you really build tree equity by engaging the community, pulling folks together, and it, in essence, builds neighborhoods.”

Resource Challenges Addressed

• Loss of habitat

• Runoff pollution

• Flooding

Key Partners

USDA Forest Service, The City of Detroit, The Greening of Detroit, Littlefield Community Association, Grand River Block Club, Noble Elementary School, local residents, various corporate and private partners

Cost

$130,000

Types of Jobs Supported

Community Engagement Outreach Coordinator, Detroit Conservation Corps workers, Green Corps workers

Results and Accomplishments

Planting 200 trees of different species is helping to reduce flooding and runoff pollution, while preventing the chance that an invasive species like the emerald ash borer will destroy the city’s tree canopy.

*This story is part of a GLRI success story packet that was used in the Coalition’s 2023 Great Lakes Days, with one story from each state in the region. Read the full packet

TREE PLANTING

The community of Littlefield has come together with The Greening of Detroit to plant a variety of trees throughout the community, improving tree equity and offsetting the chances of a single species wipeout like what occurred due to the Emerald Ash Borer.

Credit: City of Detroit