Rural Municipalities Seek Help In Saving Borer-Infected Ash Trees

Jeff Green | Jul 18, 2013

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the federal agency that has conducted an expensive (and unsuccessful) battle against the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) for over 10 years.

The borer was discovered in the Windsor/Detroit area in 2002. In 2004, in an attempt to contain the existing pest population, the CFIA removed approximately 150,000 ash trees, creating an ash-free zone in south-western Ontario between Essex County and the municipality of Chatham-Kent, where the borer had not yet been detected. It was hoped that this would act as a barrier to the continued spread of the borer, but it was detected beyond this zone in January 2005.

Since then, the CFIA has adopted a less aggressive strategy, which aims at restricting the sale of ash firewood and logs from infected areas to non-infected areas. After the borer was found near Mountain Grove last year, Frontenac County was added to that list of restricted areas, joining the golden horseshoe around Toronto, as well as the Ottawa region and Leeds-Grenville.

Now, recognizing that the infestation has likely expanded through Eastern and Central Ontario even if it has not been confirmed in all regions, the CFIA is proposing that the restricted area be expanded as far north as Sudbury, Cochrane, Temiskaming in Ontario, Rouyn-Noranda and the northern reaches of the Pontiac in Quebec, and well past Montreal to the east.

With no restrictions on the transport of ash products within such a vast region, which includes the bulk of the urban markets in both Ontario and Quebec, the restricted zones will cease to have an impact.

In a report to Frontenac County Council, Joe Gallivan, the manager for sustainability planning, said the “CFIA has determined that because of the wide spread of the EAB they were unable to control it further through regulation and are withdrawing from Southern Ontario. Without any preservation plans in place, it is predicted that the Ash will be wiped out in southern Ontario from EAB destruction in the next 15 to 20 years.”

In response, the Ontario Urban Forestry Council is proposing that the federal and provincial governments be approached to provide financial/managerial support for a strategy that is being put in place in urban centres.

There is an effective treatment for trees before it is infected or while it is still in the early stages of infestation. An insecticide called TreeAzin, injected near the base of a tree, has been shown to be effective. For urban foresters, TreeAzin, can also be a cost-effective option. The price of a treatment is dropping to the $200 range, and homeowners and/or municipalities are facing costs in the $600 to remove an infected tree.

There is no solution for stands of ash in rural areas, but Gallivan is urging Frontenac County Council to ask the urban forestry council to encourage funding assistance for rural municipalities as well, mostly for ashes that are located within or near some of the hamlets in Frontenac County.

Frontenac County Council is considering a resolution on the matter this week asking for assistance from upper levels of government.

“The proposed resolution … has been revised to include rural area as well, considering that Ash trees are also found in villages and hamlets across the Frontenacs, and that rural municipalities cannot afford the cost of preservation programs that are being applied in cities such as Ottawa, Peterborough, and Kingston,” wrote Gallivan.