Beetles beat it out of Hudson

Tuesday, April 08, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Federal and state officials announced yesterday that Hudson County is free of the Asian Longhorned Beetle five years after authorities declared war on the tree-killing bugs that infested more than 100 trees in the Newport section of Jersey City.

"This operation was to save trees, which is especially important to the quality of life in our cities," said state Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus. "It is extremely gratifying to see that trees are flourishing in Jersey City and Hoboken."

Authorities uprooted 461 trees, including 113 infected ones, in Newport. No infected trees were found in Hoboken, but as a precaution the city was included in the quarantine area.

Using a $477,288 U.S. Forestry Service grant, the state Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Protection worked with the LeFrak Organization to replace them with some 433 bug-resistant trees.

"The loss of 400 trees, and our oldest at that, really hurt," LeFrak Managing Director Jamie LeFrak said. "We accomplished this program on time, which was critical. Nature does not respect construction delays."

The 4-square-mile quarantined area, which covered part of Jersey City and "three quarters" of Hoboken, was monitored throughout the project.