A state program aimed at replacing trees lost to the ravages of the Asian longhorned beetle has begun with the planting of 1,427 trees in four municipalities in Middlesex and Union counties.
Carteret is getting 556 trees, linden 391 trees, Rahway 307 and Woodbridge 173 in a reforestation program that began this month, state officials said.
The trees have been planted as part of a $1.6 million effort to replace the 5,400 trees removed and destroyed by the infestation, according to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who announced the program this week
The DEP's Forest Service is managing the program through a grant provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service.
The landscape of these cities and communities_ suffered a major blow from the invasive Asian longhorned beetle," Campbell said. "Replanting the trees will restore the natural canopy once enjoyed by residents and area businesses."
Acting Gov. Richard Codey said the need to replant speaks for itself.
"It is important that we keep the green in the Garden State," Codey said.
The Asian longhorned beetle is an exotic insect with a voracious appetite for hardwood trees, including maple, willow, elm, horse chestnut, ash, poplar and birch.
The beetles are from 1 to 1% inches long with a shiny black exterior with white spots and long antennae with black and white bands.
They were first discovered in this Country in Brooklyn in 1996 and again in Central Park in 2001.
The USDA determined they got here inside wood packing material from China.
They were found in Union and Middlesex counties in 2004.
The bugs attack trees in the early summer when the female makes an indentation in the bark and plants eggs. When the eggs hatch, the baby beetles bore into the center of the tree and feed on the heartwood.
The only way to destroy them is to remove the trees and run them through shredders.
The replacement trees include a wide variety of species and are typically 10 feet tall and 2 to 3 inches in diameter at planting.
The removal and reforestation program follows one that was used successfully in Jersey City, where the bugs were discovered in 2002.