JEFFERSON PARK — Determined to replace trees destroyed by illness and the Emerald Ash Borer, city officials said Friday they would boost the city's tree budget by $400,000.
The Bureau of Forestry will use the additional money to plant 4,200 trees, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office said in a statement.
City crews will "strategically plant trees across Chicago in neighborhoods that have seen a significant amount of tree removals," said Department of Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles L. Williams.
The Emerald Ash Borer is smaller than a penny but has doomed hundreds of trees across the Northwest Side by eating them from the inside out, leaving the trees brittle and unsteady.
In Portage Park, six ash trees destroyed by the pest met the business end of a chain saw in February — a not uncommon occurrence on blocks in Jefferson Park, Edison Park and Norwood Park, officials said.
The city will plant another 3,600 trees as part of several projects, including the Bloomingdale Trail, West Ridge Nature Preserve and Fullerton Shoreline Protection redevelopment, officials said.
The Chicago Park District will plant 4,000 trees this spring, the mayor's office said.
City officials have pledged to save as many ash trees as possible by injecting them with an insecticide.
Residents who live on a block where a tree has been chopped down can call their alderman's office or fill out a online form to request that a new tree be planted on their block, Brugh said.
Every year, city crews chop down about 10,000 trees for a variety of reasons, including the Emerald Ash Borer. Most of the trees are removed between November and May, officials said.
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