Montreal says it's winning the war against the emerald ash borer, but critics disagree

montrealgazette.com
April 5, 2016
By Katherine Wilton

The city of Montreal cut down 4,349 trees infected with the emerald ash borer in 2015 and expects to fell another 3,406 this year, but the city councillor responsible for the environment maintains Montreal is winning the war against the pesky beetle that has killed thousands of trees over the past few years.

“We are doing very well, the situation is under control,” said Real Menard, a councillor from Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, one of the borough’s most badly affected by the infestation.

But the opposition at city hall maintains that the Coderre administration is being too optimistic, pointing out that 931 infected trees were discovered last fall, up from 572 in the fall of 2014.

Menard also dismissed as “sensationalistic” a media report that claimed that 30,000 trees on Mount Royal could be threatened by the emerald ash borer.

Last year, the city cut down 12 infected trees on Mount Royal after inspecting 151.

However, Sylvain Ouellet of the opposition Projet Montreal, said the Universite de Montreal is planning to cut down 200 infected trees on the north slope of Mount Royal this month. Another 200 infected trees on the university grounds will be treated with an insecticide. He wonders why the city has discovered so few infected trees on Mount Royal. City officials will release a plan to tackle the problem in the city’s parks later this year.

In 2015 and 2016, Montreal has treated, or will treat, 37,000 infected trees with TreeAzin, an insecticide that kills the insect’s larvae and reduces fertility. The treatment needs to be repeated every two years and costs $200 per tree.

The city is pledging to spend $18 million in 2016 to fight the emerald ash borer and plant new trees. It spent about $12.9 million in 2015 and $3.6 million in 2014. There are about 200,000 ash trees in the city of Montreal.

About 11,534 new trees were planted by the city in 2015, Menard said.

Malin Anagrius, director of a non-profit organization responsible for planting many new trees for the city, said the ash trees are being replaced with oak, pine and many other trees. “We want to have as many species as possible so we are not in this situation again,” she said.

Anagrius said the city will have to remain on top of the situation for a long time because Montreal has so many ash trees.

The emerald ash borer was first detected in North America in 2002 and is native to eastern Russia and China.

Over the past three years, more than 3,000 trees have been planted on residential properties that had infected trees. However, Nicolas Montpetit, the director of the Regroupement des eco-quartiers du Quebec, said more work needs to be done to educate residents about the importance of treating infected ash trees on their property. In many cases, the city will provide financial help to residents who have to cut down their tree or have it treated.

Signs of infestation include small holes in the tree and dying leaves.

Emmanuel Rondia, a spokesperson for the Conseil regional l’environnement de Montreal, said he thinks Menard is being “a bit optimistic” by saying the war against the emerald ash borer is being won. “If you look at the other cities in the U.S., the problem remains for many years,” he said.