The City of Owen Sound will remove Ash trees from the Inner harbour area. 15 Ash trees in the Inner harbour area concentrated between 1155 1st Ave W and 11th St West are presenting advanced symptoms of infestation by the The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).
The highly destructive invasive beetle attacks and kills Ash trees. Infected trees will show crown dieback, epicormic shoots (small branches growing low on the trunk of the affected tree), and D shaped entry holes.
Each tree removed will be replaced with another new tree in the inner harbour area during the fall 2022 planting season in order to maintain and enhance the City’s urban canopy.
The presence of EAB was confirmed in Owen Sound in 2018. In response to the pending threat of EAB, the City developed an Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan (link) in 2014. The City’s Emerald Ash Borer Plan, attempted to project the impacts of Emerald Ash Borer in Owen Sound and the plan provided direction for a 10-year period of time.
Emerald Ash Borer, native to Asia, is classified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as an invasive species. At the federal level, “invasive” refers to a species that has moved outside of its native habitat and threatens the new environment, economy or society by disrupting local ecosystems.
The City inoculated 165 significant ash trees in 2016, 2018 and 2020 against Emerald ash Borer. There are 1092 inventoried Ash Trees in the City’s Tree inventory. 20% to 30% of forest in Grey County are made up of ash species susceptible to Emerald Ash Borer.