To the Editor:

I am a member of the Shade Tree Commission (STC) and went this morning to look at the tree that fell yesterday (5-2-2017) on the roof of a house on Mercer Street. The roof caved in and killed a dog in the house. I was curious what kind of tree this was and it turned out to be an ash tree.

For the past year, the STC has been trying to increase public awareness about the emerald ash borer (see www.princetonshadetree.org), an insect that will kill 99 percent of the ash trees in Princeton if left untreated. We have about 2,000 ash trees on our streets, and we estimate an even larger number on private properties and public lands such as parks, the University, and open spaces. The property on Mercer Street and the surrounding properties are full of ash trees, some of them very old and already in very bad condition. Some very big trees are close to Mercer Road. The ash tree that killed the dog seemed to have snapped midway. The wood of ash trees is very brittle and this characteristic makes these trees so dangerous in severe wind conditions like yesterday.

I hope you can pay some attention to this event.

Welmoet van Kammen

Member of Shade Tree Commission