Nine thousand trees on Grand River Conservation Authority property have become victims of the emerald ash borer – and there are likely more infected trees than they’ve found.
“We haven’t even done a lot of our properties yet,” GRCA spokesperson Dave Schultz tells CTV News.
The 9,000 known infected trees all reside in what the GRCA terms high-risk locations – spots near roads, buildings, power lines or campsites.
A small insect which lays its eggs under the bark of ash trees, the emerald ash borer has slowly spread through southern Ontario after first arriving in the Windsor area.
In Kitchener, civic officials have set aside $11 million to replace 5,000 ash borer-infested trees by 2022.
Adam Buitendyk, a city forest technologist, says replacing trees is really the only way to deal with the pest’s spread.
“It’s been proven … that quarantine measures aren’t working,” he says.
At the GRCA, which plans to spend $8 million over 10 years to deal with its ash borer concerns, some trees will be treated with chemicals – but Schultz says that’s not an option for every infected piece of greenery.
“It’s a very expensive process, so we’ve only picked a couple of hundred trees we’re doing that on,” he says.
“Otherwise, about all you can do is take the trees down.”
Ash trees will be replanted on GRCA properties where their absence would be noticeable.
