The Nebraska Forest Service wants three-million dollars annually to deal with the Emerald Ash Borer.
State Forester Scott Josiah expects the beetle will destroy the ash tree population over the next 10-to-15 years.

The funding request is in a bill before the state Appropriations Committee.
The money would be used as a 50-50 matching program to help local communities with tree removal and replacement.

Josiah says there are approximately 44-million ash trees in Nebraska with about a million of them in public parks and right-of-ways.