Asian insect threatens 177,300 Oakville ash trees Continued from page 1 5 · Friday, May 14, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com the City of London to the Federal government for financial assistance for EAB management was turned down. Forestry staff believe that given that municipalities vary widely in their ability to deal with EAB, the current lack of senior government leadership in EAB management is the major contributing factor in the loss of ash canopy cover in Ontario communities." The EAB was introduced to North America from Asia and was first detected in the Detroit area in 2002. Since then, it has spread throughout the Great Lakes basin from Michigan to New York State and parts of Ontario and Quebec. The insect was positively identified in the south Iroquois Ridge community in the summer of 2008. The EAB tunnels underneath the bark of ash trees, eventually doing so much damage that it destroys the tree's vascular system, killing it within five to 10 years of the initial infection. Oakville has approximately 177,300 ash trees, not counting any that may be located north of Dundas Street. At Tuesday's meeting, McNeil said Town staff are putting together a plan to deal with EAB and have already taken some steps to stop the problem from getting any worse. These steps include stopping the planting of ash trees and council approval of $50,000 for TreeAzin treatments for 1,000 street and park ash trees in 2009. TreeAzin is an insecticide, which is injected into ash trees to inhibit the larval development of EAB and prevent the adult insects from emerging. The insecticide must be used preventatively or at the outset of the outbreak. As previously mentioned, the Town is also conducting a tree inventory to pinpoint the locations of all ash trees in Oakville with Town staff also using a new Canadian Forest Service early warning detection method to map out the extent of the EAB infestation in Oakville. Oakville became the first municipality in Canada to complete a grid-based survey using this method in March. A detailed action plan for fighting EAB, complete with costs, will be presented to the Community Services Committee on Tuesday, June 8. This will include a combination of the continuation of the TreeAzin treatments, a `green trap' project with the Canadian Forest Services, targeted removals of heavily infested trees and the updating of the EAB density map. The Montigo Peninsula. Introducing the three sided clean face. 3600 Laird Rd., Units 12 & 13 Mississauga, ON Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9-5, Sat. 10-4, Sun. 12-4 www.ontariohearth.com 905.569.2404 OAKVILLE UNITED TAXI OAKVILLE'S #1 TAXI SERVICE YEAR AFTER YEAR Airport & Out-of-Town Service May · · · · · · · · · · · · Deals Let us help you explore Ontario this summer. Some conditions may apply; one way price from Oakville to destination in Ontario. GO GREEN! CALL US · 24 HOURS · 7 DAYS A WEEK www.oakvilleunitedtaxi.com THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. JOIN OUR GROWING TEAM, CALL 905-338-6106 905.338.0044