8
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
March/April 2021
'ONEDAVEY' APPROACH TACKLES INFESTATION OF
ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Davey Resource Group (DRG), Residential/Commercial
services (R/C) and Eastern Utility services teamed up
to aid in the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) eradication
efforts in Charleston County, South Carolina.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) and Clemson
University's Department of Plant Industry (DPI) confirmed
ALB was infesting trees in Charleston County in June 2020.
APHIS and DPI quarantined 58.6 square miles within the
county to prevent further spread, and the initial survey by
APHIS identified 2,600 ALB infested trees.
MISSION
DRG has a long history working on ALB projects. In
October 2020, DRG was awarded two contracts by
APHIS for the South Carolina ALB project: the ALB tree
surveying contract and the ALB tree removal contract.
DRG, R/C and Eastern Utility services do not have a
presence in this area of South Carolina, which posed a
challenge in terms of providing the needed personnel
to complete the work. DRG collaborated with R/C and
Eastern Utility to find a solution and were able to send
crews to the area.
"Because Davey's a large company, we have great resources
and a wide breadth of knowledge to draw
upon," said Joe Joyner, project manager,
DRG. "There has been a ton of positive
support from R/C and Utility. Everyone has
done a great job problem solving, keeping
our client happy and working hard to
eradicate the beetle."
R/C sent a crew from the Northeast
Cleveland office to be a permanent crew
for the project. Kevin Knife is the current
project arborist for the ALB project.
Bryan Layne will eventually relieve Knife
and become the new project arborist.
Employees from the Akron and Canton
offices also went to assist with time
sensitive removals.
Jeff Crites, vice president, Commercial
Tree Care Operations, said the ALB
damage on the trees is highly visible,
which has led to safety concerns over
the structural integrity of these trees.
Left: This ALB projects brings with it swamps,
which can contain poisonous snakes and alligators.
This photo is an example of some of the wetlands
the crews are removing trees in. Joe Joyner
recalled a removal site on an island in the middle
of a pond. It also happened to be the favorite
hangout spot for the resident 12-foot nuisance
alligator. Fortunately, no one encountered the
alligator. This photo is of an 8-foot alligator that
was hanging out in a pond our crews had been
working in a few days earlier. Animal awareness
is part of each daily job briefing.
