Emerald Ash Borer Officially Established in Colorado Springs, Gazette Reports

The emerald ash borer, an invasive insect species native to Asia, has officially established itself within Colorado Springs city limits, threatening roughly 40,000 ash trees across the municipality, the Gazette reported.

Rustic Hills Arborist Crews Cut Down Infested Ash Trees

The roar of chain saws ripped through the Rustic Hills neighborhood on a Friday morning as a crew of arborists and tree removal experts cut down ash trees at two homes in the northeast Colorado Springs neighborhood. These felled trees mark some of the city’s first casualties of the emerald ash borer, a destructive beetle currently in the early stages of tearing through the local treescape. Colorado Springs staff confirmed in August that the invasive pest had been detected within city limits, though officials believe the beetle arrived in firewood brought from another part of Colorado roughly three years before official confirmation.

City Forestry Manager Matthew Puckett stated that roughly 30 trees have confirmed infestations. While that number represents a fraction of the roughly 40,000 total ash trees in Colorado Springs, Puckett and other experts warn that the insect is likely to spread rapidly each year. One in five trees in the city is an ash tree.

“It’s pretty devastating to know that it’s here now because if the ash isn’t treated, it’s going to end up dying and we’re going to lose a lot of trees,” said Mark Kelley, Plant Health Care Manager with Tall Timbers.

Tall Timbers Tree & Shrub Service carried out the removal of the infected ash tree in the front yard of a Colorado Springs home on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Smaller branches and limbs were pulped on site. The tree trunk was cut into large pieces and hauled away to Rocky Top Resources, a local company, to be mulched, while Tall Timbers kept a handful of limbs to train staff on detecting ash borer damage.

White Blotches and Woodpecker Activity Signal Ash Borer Damage

Early signs of damage from the ash borer are often difficult to spot and typically appear near the treetops. Affected trees begin to get white blotches and dying branches since higher limbs die off first. Woodpecker activity can signal that the birds are trying to eat the larvae inside the wood.

“In Colorado Springs, the ash are so much in decline anyway, it’s hard to detect, just due to drought and stress,” Kelley explained. “A lot of the symptoms in the first year look like other issues. The second year is when you get the white and the woodpecker feeding.”

Two distinct signs indicate an ash borer infestation. A small hole shaped like a capital D appears when larvae mature and full-grown insects emerge in the spring. Peeling away the outer layer of bark reveals a series of curving and snaking tracks through the middle layers of wood. Larvae create these pathways while looking for food, and over time, the damage cuts off the flow of nutrients within the tree and kills it.

City Educates Landscape Companies on Ash Tree Management

In late September, Puckett held a meeting with Tall Timbers and several other local landscape companies to teach them about the treatment and removal of ash trees. This outreach serves as the first step in the city’s Emerald Ash Borer Management and Response Plan.

“One of the most dangerous things is misinformation. We want to make sure that everybody is on the same page in educating residents,” Puckett said.

For city-owned trees, the municipal focus centers on providing treatments and preventative measures for a select few while preparing to replace other ash trees with a mix of multiple tree species. The cost to cut down a single ash tree runs around $800, depending on the tree’s size and how easily crews can reach it. Because the beetle’s presence was not confirmed until August, officials had limited time to secure extra funding in the preliminary 2027 budget released in October 2026. Puckett noted that city leaders are exploring grants and other funding sources to compensate for the financial gap.

Left untreated, the beetle could exterminate the ash population in Colorado Springs within 10 to 15 years.