Emerald Ash Borer Update
Councillor Paul Ainslie Motion
August 25, 2010 Approved at City of Toronto
1. The City of Toronto take a proactive approach toward the impending local infestation and develop an Official Management Plan to Fight A Potential Emerald Ash Borer Infestation.
2. The Management Plan to address the City’s response to the impact the Emerald Ash Borer will have upon the tree population in the City ofToronto. As a part of this Official Management Plan, the City will also attempt to help the private sector including private residential property owners, with the concerns regarding disease or decay of Ash trees due to the Emerald Ash Borer.
3. As it is certain that this pest will eradicate the majority of the Ash species in Toronto, the City needs to create an “Official” proactive plan to address public and private needs before, during and after the infestation. The management plan is to address:
· Monitoring as the infestation approaches the City of Toronto;
· Communication from the City of Toronto’s Forestry Department to: City Council, residents and the private sector regarding how to recognize signs of infestation and what to do;
· Treatment – trees located on public property and having a very high potential for survival may be treated in an attempt to protect them from the impending infestation;
· Removal – as necessary trees on public property that are dead, posing a safety threat or not salvageable due to the Emerald Ash Borer shall be removed;
· Replace (Canopy Replacement and Care)– the City will replace Ash trees removed from parks and public property with other species and will recommend that streets with Ash tree lawn trees be considered for future “Free Tree Lawn Tree” programs that are sponsored by the City through the Forestry Department.
Federal government: The City of Toronto needs to engage the Federal government to seek assistance for private residential homeowners to reduce the monetary burden placed on them to replace infected trees on their property.
Forestry continues to monitor City-owned ash trees for looking for signs and symptoms of EAB, updating our database on ash tree condition, removing and replacing ash trees when required and identifying presently available tree planting locations in areas of known EAB infestation.
With regards to the extent of the EAB infestation within the City of Toronto, an area of EAB infestation was found in Scarborough in the Morningside and Sheppard Avenue area. Just recently, we've become aware of an area in the vicinity of Kingston Rd. and Galloway Rd. that appears to have EAB infested ash trees located on private property but haven't yet confirmed through inspection of City-owned ash trees in the area.
TreeAzin, a naturally-occurring insecticidal substance has been registered for injection into ash trees over the past 2 years and has shown some efficacy. The expectation is that TreeAzin will be registered again in 2010 and homeowners may choose to have their ash trees injected by licensed contractors. Should homeowners wish to have a City-owned ash tree adjacent to their property injected at their expense, a "Contractors Service Agreement" between the homeowner, the licensed contractor and Urban Forestry is also available.
Q. Is the situation now worse than stated by Urban Forestry at the public meetings held earlier this year?
A. Subsequent to Councillor Ainslie’s meeting on March 10, 2009, an area of EAB infestation was found in Scarborough in the Morningside and Sheppard Avenue area. However, no other new areas of infestation have been confirmed within the City.
Q. Will a list of approved tree service firms be compiled by the city for quality control purposes?
A. Forestry will not be able to provide an "approved" list of tree service companies. However, Forestry always recommends using companies that employ qualified arborists who may be certified with the International Society of Arboriculture (I.S.A.).
Q. Do local residents have to get permission from the city to remove larger infected ash trees on private property?
A. Currently under review
Q. What is the best time of year to contemplate a large scale removal of trees, if this is deemed to be the solution?
A. Normally, destruction of infested trees with treatment such as chipping
to less than 2.5 cm in any two dimensions during the low risk period
from October 1 - March 31 will kill all prepupal life stages of EAB and
prevent the spread of the insect. Recent research in the United States has shown that there is some evidence that ash wood, particularly logs, cut in July and August in the early stages of larval development & placed or left in full sunlight will dramatically lower EAB survival.
Q. Will a local dump site or transfer station for wood chips be established?
A. Ash wood or chips can be taken to the following transfer stations:
Bermondsey Transfer is the only Transfer station that does not receive yardwaste or chips at this time.
For further information please contact Grace Maione, Manager,Transfer Operations Solid Waste Management(416) 397-1356 or (416) 676-6874 (cell) gmaione@toronto.ca.
Q. What type of trees does the city recommend be planted for replacement and for
diversity purposes?
A. Urban Forestry recommends the planting of large growing native shade trees. However, in some circumstances, non-native species may be suitable. I've attached our Street Tree planting brochure and another list of native trees for natural areas.
For additional information about EAB, please consult Forestry's EAB webpage at: http://www.toronto.ca/trees/eab.htm for more information and the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency webpage at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pestrava/agrpla/agrplae.shtml for more information and Regulations regarding the movement of ash material and all firewood out of an Infested Area such as the City of Toronto.
Information provided by: Kristjan Vitols, Supervisor, Tree Nursery & Natural Resource Management Forest & Natural Environment Management Urban Forestry Branch, City of Toronto. 416-392-0432, kvitols@toronto.ca.
Questions asked at the session:
Q. Is the beetle only attacking Ash Trees?
A. Yes. There are a number of Ash species such as the Mountain Ash, this species is not affected. Only the regular Ash tree.
Q. How do I know if my tree is affected?
A. The first noticeable sign would be if the leaves on the top of the tree are dying leaving a very sparingly look on the top or small v shaped holes along the bark. Please call the City if you believe your tree to be infected.
Q. How can I prevent it?
A. There is no prevention for EAB.
Q. Can a tree be saved after it’s affected?
A. There is an injection that can be used, that is 95% successful in keeping the tree alive. The cost associated are between $300-$400 per tree and must be repeated every 2 years.
Q. What is the life expectancy of an infected tree?
A. This varies. It could be between 3 – 5 years.
Q. Will the City of Toronto remove an infected tree from my private property?
A. Unfortunately no. The City does not remove trees from private property.
Q. How many Ash trees are in Guildwood village?
A. 26,000
Complete information on EAB can be found at:
http://www.toronto.ca/trees/eab.htm
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/
A link to the information session presentation may be viewed at:
Invasive plants: PDF
EAB Briefing Note: Parks, Forestry and Recreation will implement a slow-to-spread program for Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) using TreeAzin pesticide, starting the week of June 23, 2008...PDF
EAB Issue Note: New discovery of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Toronto...PDF
For further inquiries please contact:
EAB - City of Toronto Alex Bykov, Inspector Forest Health Care at abykov@toronto.ca 416-392-1898.
Invasive plants City of Toronto, Cara Webster, Natural Resource Specialist, cwebster@toronto.ca, 416-392-0380
Government of Canada May Orr, Specialist Principal Longicorne asiatique at mary.orr@inspection.gc.ca at 416- 661-8158.
