If Winnipeg's fight with the emerald ash borer resembles the experiences of Ottawa and Toronto, the insect will cause the demise of thousands of trees over the next few years and dramatically change how some neighbourhoods look. The beetle moved into Toronto a little more than a decade ago and has killed large swaths of trees there, as it has in Ottawa, Montreal and other cities in between. No one was surprised when the insect was found in Winnipeg earlier this year. Patti Moloney, who lives in Uxbridge, Ont. — just northeast of Toronto — said she took the ash canopy in her neighbourhood for granted until nearly all of the trees were cut down last fall after becoming infested. "We were walking home with the kids from their school and I looked around and was, like, something is totally different. It just feels so barren," she said. "Suddenly everyone's front yards and backyards and the school grounds and the boulevards along the street are a lot more bare. It's a stark difference." Moloney, a jewelry maker with a company called Dimples, was so moved by the change she began a line of tree bark-inspired jewelry, and donates some proceeds to Forests Ontario. City crews cut off nine ash trees halfway down the trunk on Wellington Street in Toronto after discovering they were infected by emerald ash borer in August 2014. (CBC) Winnipeg announced details of its $1.3-million ash borer control program last week. The city's urban forestry branch will select ash trees on city property this summer and inject them with insecticide treatments. Experts say insecticide is more of delay tactic than a cure — it buys cities time to hopefully plant replacement trees so crews can stagger the removal of ash trees. 'Tremendous' impact on neighbourhoods While in its larvae stage, the emerald ash borer munches on an ash tree's conductive tissue, or cambium, effectively cutting off circulation. The bugs can kill a tree within a few years. It's incumbent on municipalities to take down borer-infested ash not just to protect other trees nearby — the damage caused by the beetle is also a liability. Once limbs begin to die they become a hazard to anything on the ground, including cars and, of course, people. Michael Rosen, president of Tree Canada, a charity that promotes forests, said in the Ottawa area where he lives, the impact of the emerald ash borer was "traumatic." "The effect on the city was absolutely tremendous. There was a lot of neighbourhoods that were totally covered in ash [trees]," he said. An emerald ash borer larva is removed from an ash tree in Saugerties, N.Y. The insect feeds off a tree's cambium, effectively cutting off its circulation and eventually killing the tree. (The Associated Press) Between a quarter and a third of all trees in Ottawa are ash, said Rosen. Just as in Winnipeg, where elm trees form an almost complete canopy on some streets, ash once blanketed older Ottawa neighbourhoods in green. In just a few years, most were gone. Historic neighbourhoods suddenly felt like new subdivisions, Rosen said. Ash goes the way of the elm In Toronto, it's a similar story. Thousands of trees in the city have been cut down in recent years. It's estimated the emerald ash borer could affect 860,000 trees in Canada's largest city. "It's been an impact that's very visual and one that's quite obvious to the average person," said Janet McKay, a Toronto resident and executive director of Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests. The non-profit works with citizen groups, businesses and municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area to plant trees. Growing trees in cities is notoriously difficult. Road salt, compact soil, pollution and Canada's winters all make urban areas unkind to trees. The first tree of choice in these harsh environments used to be elm trees, which for some reason thrive in urban areas. After dutch elm swept through toward the later half of the last century, municipalities planted ash instead. The emerald ash borer is native to Asia. It was first detected in Canada in 2002 in Windsor, Ont. It is believed the insect arrived in the city from Michigan. (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources/The Associated Press) "It's a great urban tree but of course, we didn't anticipate this insect coming," said McKay. Lately, her organization has been replacing the old ash stumps with a diverse mix of trees, including silver maple, Kentucky coffeetree and honey locust. McKay also likes shrubs, like Saskatoon berry bushes, which can help remediate soil and provide food for birds, not to mention people. 'It's quite gross, actually' Rosen, who has helped municipalities battle dutch elm disease for more than a decade through Tree Canada, said it can be hard to convince residents cutting down trees before they are completely dead is the right move. Once you can see dead limbs in the canopy of an ash tree it is already infested with sometimes thousands of worms, he said. Peel back the bark and the cambium would likely be carpeted in white larvae. "It's quite gross, actually," said Rosen. "By the time you're able to visually see the effects you really have to get rid of the tree." To give a tree its best shot at survival, crews should begin treating it with insecticide before it shows any obvious signs of infection. There's still no guarantee the insecticide will ever completely eradicate the pest, though. For now, the recommended course is to treat a tree every year or two to keep it alive. This year, Winnipeg said it will be treating 1,000 ash trees on boulevards and parks, and remove up to 800 trees. The city estimates there are 350,000 ash trees in Winnipeg, about 100,000 of which are on public property.<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email On Monday, the city of Winnipeg will be rolling out its plan to help control the spread of the emerald ash borer. The insect was first discovered in Winnipeg last fall but according to the city, the invasive species has the power to wipe out the entire ash tree population. There are more than 356,000 ash trees in the city. 101,000 are on public property, on streets and in parks. The remaining 256,000 are on private property. The program will run for the next six weeks and includes injecting 1,000 primarily green ash trees with an insecticide and the removal of 800 ash trees from boulevards and parks. “We’re only injecting those trees that are good candidates, that are in very good to excellent condition,” Martha Barwinsky, with Urban Forestry Branch said. Story continues below advertisement The trees slated for removal have been marked with a purple dot, those getting the treatment, with a grey one. The city will also be monitoring the spread of the insects with traps. “We will be installing approximately 200 traps across the city of Winnipeg,” Barwinsky explained. “We’re monitoring for the adult beetles that will be flying around this time of year.” Barwinsky added if the city chose to ignore the problem, it would lose a large percent of Winnipeg’s tree population. “Ash makes up over 30 per cent of our canopy, so if you think just our trees on our streets and in parks, losing a third of that canopy has a significant impact on our communities, on our city, on our shade cover.” The City of Winnipeg’s Insect Control Branch will start its emerald ash borer control program on Monday. Treatment will occur between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, weather permitting, and will occur regularly until July. Story continues below advertisement Many areas across the city will be receiving treatment, including Elmwood, Transcona, Downtown, Wolseley, Grant Park and Southdale. According to the city, the products being used, “have been approved for use in Canada by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency, and will be used in accordance with federally approved label directions by licensed pesticide applicators.” More information can be found here.<doc-sep>
The City of Winnipeg is launching its campaign against the emerald ash borer on Monday, weather permitting. This is the first time the city has treated trees for the invasive beetle since city officials determined the ash borer was in Winnipeg last November. The city will inject trees with utilizing the insecticides IMA-jet or TreeAzin, a vaccine-like injectable. Part of the strategy includes injecting 1,000 ash trees on boulevards and parks, as well as removing up to 800 trees. The city will also place up to 200 traps to monitor for adult beetles. The city has more than 350,000 ash trees, and about 100,000 of those are on public property. The emerald ash borer management program will be limited to trees on public property. "We will be developing resources and some kind of support for private property owners so they are aware of the problem and they learn how they can manage the ash trees on their private properties," said Martha Barwinski, with the urban forestry branch. Emerald ash borers were first detected in Detroit and Windsor, Ont., in 2002, and have been gradually moving west. Last December, Barwinsky said Winnipeg is at risk of losing all of its 350,000 green ash trees within the next decade. The city's strategy is expected to cost $1.3 million in the first year. The city has established strict criteria for which trees will receive injections, Barwinski said. "It costs money to inject trees. It is a long-term commitment as well because those trees have to be injected every two years for the amount of time that we want to preserve those trees, to protect them from emerald ash borer," she said. Trees that are not selected for injection should be removed sooner rather than later, Barwinski said, because once a tree dies from emerald ash borer infestation it becomes a safety hazard. "Trees that have been killed by emerald ash borer, within two years fall over. They start failing, they start dropping large limbs, and for an arborist removing those trees, the trees are unpredictable." Tree injections cost on average between $200-$300 for a single treatment. Treatment will occur between 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, weather permitting. You can see a full list of areas that will be treated on the city's website.