Visitors to Island Park in downtown Elkhart may notice that some of the trees have been marked with tags. These trees are infested by emerald ash borer- a little insect that does a lot of damage to ash trees. The Elkhart Environmental Center is working with the Elkhart City Forester and the Purdue Extension Master Gardener program to offer a new community program called Neighbors Against Bag Bugs (NABB). This program helps raise awareness of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and its impact on ash trees in our community through tree tagging events.

Elkhart County is considered to be infested with EAB and that means all of the ash trees in our city are at risk. Trees often do not show signs of being infested until it is too late and without treatment, it is unlikely that any of the city's ash will survive. The NABB Program can help your neighborhood learn what to do before this pest destroys all of the ash trees in your community. For more information about the program and how you can organize a tree tagging event in your neighborhood, contact the Elkhart Environmental Center at 574-293-5070.