2,800 ash trees are on the chopping block in Kane County.

An advisory panel recommends that the trees should be destroyed to fight the emerald ash borer.

Jeff Squibb is a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

He says the trees are in a two square mile area around Lily Lake.

“Right now there’s an estimated 137-million ash trees in the state and we’re looking at have to sacrifice a few thousand to save the millions of others,” Squibb says.

Squibb says about 1,700 of the trees that will be destroyed are on private property.

The emerald ash borer has killed millions of trees throughout the Midwest.