Early one recent morning, Matt Shreiner looked up at a lanky poplar tree near Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury. Helmet on, ropes at his feet and coffee in tow, he was ready for the ascent.

"There's nothing like climbing a tree, having a sip of iced coffee at 80 feet," he said.

Shreiner has scaled over 10,000 trees since joining a state effort to defeat the Asian longhorned beetle. The infamous inky-black beetle with white spots and long antennae feeds on trees to the point it can kill them, threatening wildlife habitat, the state's maple and timber industries, and public safety if the trees fall down.

Climbers and other soldiers in this war have a precise mission: scan trees in the region for any evidence of the beetle.

"It's sort of like an Easter egg hunt," Shreiner said. "You're look

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