1. EAB underscores why we need to plant a greater variety of trees species, and especially more native species.
2. Our current EAB plan only covers a portion of the City-owned ash trees and many more in City woodlots and on private property are going to be lost. We have no removal or replanting plans for these trees and this will impact our overall urban forest canopy cover, and as our current forestry crews struggle to keep up with removals and replanting, it will ultimately impact our safety, air quality and quality of life.
3. Projects like TreesCount are low-cost ways to help communities assess EAB impacts on private and City-owned trees. Because most of our City is 'private' land - individuals homes, industrial and commercial properties and institutions - if the City is serious about maintaining or expanding our urban tree canopy cover for its various health, environmental and economic benefits, they need to consider programs that encourage and support people to plant trees in these areas. The benefits of trees on private land accrue to us all! I've included my letter to the editor below.
If you'd like to learn more about EAB, the City of Hamilton has produced a fact sheet. More information on the City's EAB management plan can be found here.
So far our urban forest inventory in Westdale south has only turned up 6 ash trees (out of about 600 trees surveyed to date). However, as Matthew's article points out, other parts of the City including the East Mountain and Stoney Creek, with their much higher density of urban ash trees, have much more to lose.
One of the many benefits derived from collecting comprehensive urban forest inventory data, as we are with TreesCount, is that you can identify ash trees on private land that are not infected and may be good candidates for a preventative treatment program and you can also identify ash trees that are infected and should be removed before they become hazardous. It would be great to see community-based monitoring of both public and private trees expand in future years to cover neighbourhoods in Hamilton where EAB is likely to be a problem.
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| Ash tree in Westdale south. |
Dear Editor,
I wish to provide some
additional perspective on the Emerald Ash Borer’s (EAB) impact on our urban
forest.
EAB’s devastation in Hamilton
underscores the need to improve diversity in our urban forest. Diversity in
terms of different species and age distribution is critical to buffer the
future urban forest from losses due to insects, disease, drought, and climate
change. It is encouraging that City ash tree removals are being replaced with
native tree species. However, out of the 90 or so trees native to our area only
a few are being planted. We must do a much better job of planting more
varieties of native species.
It is also likely that the scope
of the problem is much bigger then we think. The City’s current EAB plan and
budget for ash tree removal and replanting addresses only a portion of the ash
in our urban forest – an estimated 23,000 ash trees along City streets and in
municipal parks and cemeteries. As your article points out, it is difficult to
keep up with this work and this does not include ash trees in woodlots and on
private land. We have no plan to replace these lost trees.
A Hamilton Naturalists’ Club
project, called TreesCount, is assessing the health of urban trees on private
land in Westdale. TreesCount will reveal the impact of EAB on ash trees in the
neighbourhood and identify hazard trees before they become dangerous. However,
if the City wants to ensure our urban forest is maintained they should be
initiating or supporting programs that help homeowners to plant native trees.
Giuliana Casimirri
Hamilton Naturalists' Club
Urban Forest Project Coordinator
Giuliana Casimirri
Hamilton Naturalists' Club
Urban Forest Project Coordinator
