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Town to remove up to 86 ash trees to curb spread of emerald ash borer

April 30, 2014   ·   0 Comments

Orangeville public works crews will remove as many as 86 ash trees this year in an attempt to curb the spread of the emerald ash borer (EAB) and alleviate potential pedestrian safety concerns.

This is the first year of Orangeville’s multi-year action plan to address the impact of the invasive borer insect.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) first detected the EAB in Erindale Park in the spring of 2013. During a tree inventory later in the year, the town also discovered the insect in ash trees on Madison Avenue.

Consultant Silv-Econ, which prepared the town’s Boulevard Tree Inventory and Analysis, noted that in the coming five to 10 years the EAB is expected to have severely affected or killed Orangeville’s ash trees.

Orangeville council approved a plan this year to remove and replace all ash trees on boulevards and in parks. With respect to ash trees located on conservation land owned by the town, only trees that pose a risk to private or public infrastructure will be included in the plan. They will be removed as required. Residents are responsible for affected trees located on their own property.

The first year of the program will see areas tackled where EAB has been identified. About 40 of the trees slated for removal this fall are in the Madison Avenue and Parkview Drive area.

Another 14 trees will be removed in the Zina Street, Elizabeth Street, and John Street area. A third area identified for 2014 is central Broadway where a total of 16 ash trees will be removed and another 16 in the west Broadway area.

The ash trees will be replaced with a variety of species best suited to the site conditions, and trees that will not impact utilities. Such species will include locust, oak, hackberry, service berry, elm, and ivory silk lilac.

“There may be other species and we will be soliciting input from residents with respect to a species for their boulevard area,” said John Lackey, the town’s manager of Operations and Development.

The EAB program will include the placement of prism traps and limbing of ash trees to identify infected areas and set priorities for ash tree removal plans in subsequent years.

For more information about the EAB, visit bit.ly/MYhW9z. If you suspect you have the beetle on your property, contact the CFIA at 1-866-463-6017.

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