Emerald ash borer a ‘natural disaster’ for Georgina

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 28, 2016
By Heidi Riedner

Two levels of government were out this month, heading into their fifth year of a continuing war against an invasive species that could level the landscape in Georgina at significant cost.

“Georgina is a bit of an anomaly within the region with its very high number of ash trees,” the Region of York’s invasive species specialist, Dayna Laxton, explained.

And that’s a huge problem due to the infestation of the emerald ash borer, which decimates ash trees - approximately 70 per cent of which within York Region are located in Georgina and East Gwillimbury - leaving environmental, safety and financial issues in its wake.

“This is a natural disaster. It’s Mother Nature and hard to control. The region and its municipalities are each wading through this war as best as possible, each with its own set of challenges regarding budget, staff and resource levels.”

Both the region and the town have multi-year, million-dollar programs in place to deal with the problem in the absence of any federal or provincial funds being doled out in aid.

Management, removal, replacement, treatment, monitoring, information sessions, sharing of technical data and best practices are all part of the plans.

The town has removed ash trees from its boulevards with rural routes next in the queue as part of its $5-million, 10-year strategy.

About 185 trees were removed last year with a growing number of trees remaining to be cut, which equates to  roughly $700 per tree under its service contract.

More than 300 woodlots will need to be assessed, however, most likely in 2017 or 2018.

On the heels of the town removing trees at Willow Beach Park, select timber harvesting - including the removal of a large number of ash trees - was conducted last week at the region’s Metro Road forestry tract as part of its ongoing forestry management operations as a whole.

The tract has been on the region’s radar and schedule for a while, but the contractor was able to move in this month once the ground froze up enough to ensure any damage to the forest’s swampy habitat was mitigated as much as possible.

Since 2012, including 2015 expenditures, approximately $3.9 million has been spent by the region on managing the impacts of the borer to date across the region.

That includes the removal of 2,629 trees on regional roads in Georgina, with the region committed to replacing each tree removed.

A majority of unaffected healthy robust ash trees being treated in an effort for potential natural re-seeding are also along Metro Road.

Laxton said the impact of EAB to Georgina is significant, with some areas of the landscape being more than 70 per cent ash - shared between the region, the town, residents with a few trees on their properties and large woodlot owners.

The hope is to have the next steps in the region’s strategy moving forward worked out in the spring, especially in light of the results of its monitoring program that has been in place since 2011.

A number of green prism traps are located in Georgina, Georgina Island and the northern sections of East Gwillimbury.

A comparison of live traps between 2014 and 2015 confirmed EAB is spreading, all the way to Pefferlaw’s border with Durham Region on Lakeridge Road.

While there are large pockets where traps were negative and Georgina Island is EAB-free, York Region is considered “infested” by CIFA standards, which is the governing body for EAB.

Transporting infested ash as firewood is the main source of artificial spread.

But Laxton said there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

She said the region continues to work with its partners, including conservation authorities and Forestry Ontario, in terms of potential support services.

Forestry and environmental services departments were also at a bit of an advantage being able to track the spread and efforts in the United States, thereby being able to put proactive plans in place, prior to EAB reaching York Region.

Ongoing workshops with representatives from the City of Toronto, the CIFA and Durham, Simcoe and Peterborough regions, as well as municipalities and residents, will further examine treatment and management options, as well as potential repurposing of “lost” ash wood.

“The hope is there may be some ash trees still standing despite the tremendous environmental and financial impact of the EAB infestation,” Laxton said.

Georgina council asked town staff during budget deliberations to further investigate potential federal or provincial grants to aid in the costs of local tree planting efforts due to the significant and proportionately higher amount of ash trees within the municipality compared to other areas.