NORWAY – The Board of Selectmen was told Thursday night it needs to prepare for the elimination of ash trees on town land and rights of way.

“We have our work cut out for us when the ash borer comes into the community,” Tish Carr, forester and Norway’s tree warden, said.

With about 85 miles of roads in Norway, it is estimated the town may have as many as 1,700 ash trees.

If each tree is removed before the emerald ash borer destroys them, it will cost an estimated $170,000 to $340,000. That number does not include ash trees on private land.

“These are big numbers. It’s a lot of trees,” Carr said.

She, along with outreach coordinator Jean Federico of the Oxford County Soil & Water Conservation District, said the insect attacks all species of ash. None of the trees are tolerant and all attacked trees will die, they said.

Over 40 million ash trees have been killed since the borer was first discovered in 2002. It has reached parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire and will infiltrate Maine. Federico said it is only a matter of time.

The pair teamed up recently to conduct a “windshield” survey of the downtown area, Crockett Ridge Road and Pleasant Street and determined there were 41 ash trees that measure less than 40 inches in girth; 90 that are between 10 and 20 inches in girth and 15 that are 20 inches or larger.

Federico and Carr have asked selectmen to take the lead in preparing for the elimination of the trees. This was the first presentation made to a municipality in the area and the pair said they hoped the board could lead the way by identifying a coordinator and conducting a tree inventory.

There are grants available for the inventory, which could involve students at Oxford Hills Technical School forestry classes in Paris and others, Carr said. Once the tree inventory is completed, it is suggested the town create a budget for the removal of trees in the public way that are particularly dangerous to motorists or pedestrians and inform and educate the public of the impending problem.

By preparing in Norway, Federico and Carr said they hope other area communities will follow suit.

The board agreed the tree inventory should be done.

In other news, the board unanimously awarded the contract for rebuilding lower Main Street to Cross Excavation of Bethel for $744,436. Representatives of the company, including President Douglas Jones, introduced themselves to the board.

The work is expected to be done this summer. At least one lane from the Second Congregationalist Church to Route 26 will remain open at all times.

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