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3 · Thursday, August 12, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Town inventories ash trees, public and private Continued from page 1 an accurate means of verifying the distribution of ash trees throughout Oakville. "Our goal is to provide the community with the necessary tools and resources to help preserve Oakville's economically valuable and environmentally sustaining tree canopy," said Chris Mark, director of Parks and Open Space for the Town of Oakville. "HSI will give us a good inventory of our ash population, even on private property." To compile this data, spectral images of Oakville's ash trees were taken from 2,500 feet using aerial-based imagery, and at ground level using a specialized handheld spectrometer. HSI collects and processes information from across the electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike the human eye, which just sees visible light, hyper- spectral imaging can see visible light including ultraviolet and infrared and collects information as a set of images. "Knowing where this insect can strike and targeting trees that will be saved, will increase our chances of success especially since 80 per cent of Oakville's treatable ash tree canopy is on private property," said Mark. "Those ash trees, which are still healthy and structurally sound can be saved if residents know about them and choose to treat them." "Hyperspectral remote sensing technology is an accurate and cost-effective method of EAB detection," said Ian Hanou, senior project manager with AMEC. "It can yield promising results for a variety of natural resource management issues involving forestry, environmental hazards, invasive species, water quality and agriculture. It is good to see Oakville take the lead, but we believe that other municipalities should consider collaborating to share the cost and value across borders." Having made its way from Asia in 2002, the Emerald Ash Borer has eaten its way through more than 20 million indigenous ash trees in Canada and the U.S. Oakville plans to share the results of this innovative research with neighbouring municipalities, academia and forestry agencies, and Oakville residents. "Oakville is leading the way in EAB management and has one of the most aggressive ash tree treatment plans in Canada. We have documented evidence that treatment with TreeAzin is an effective component of EAB management and our project is being closely monitored by other communities," said Mark. Oakville has treated approximately 1,600 municipal trees with TreeAzin this year. TreeAzin is a systemic bioinsecticide derived from the seed kernels of the neem tree which is native to India. To date, the Town of Oakville has ceased new planting of ash trees; enhanced communication to the public; launched an EAB trapping project; implemented canopy conservation by under planting new species of trees in areas dominated by ash trees; treated ash trees with TreeAzin for the third year; performed leading-edge EAB research with several partner organizations; became the first municipality in Canada to comprehensively define distribution of EAB throughout a community; and undertaken this tree inventory project. For more information, visit http://www.oakville.ca/eab.htm. Inside Health............................................ 25 Travel..............................................26 Sports.............................................30 Classified........................................35 Full Delivery: Ashley Furniture, Bluestone Project, Metro, 2001 Audio, The Bay, Mississauga Booster, Food Basics, BIY Workshops, Vanaik Furniture, IKEA, Mario's Pizza, Sobeys, Pharma Plus, Freshco, Rabba Fine Foods, Opinion............................................6 Fortinos, Kids.................................................19 Update............................................24 Peel-Halton Dance Partial Delivery: Staples, Zellers, Loblaws, Toys R Us, Valassis, Home Outfitters, Solutions, Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire, La-Z-Boy, Walmart, Bentley, XS Cargo, Best Buy, No Frills, Future Shop, Peoples Jewellers, Superstore For home delivery & customer service call (905) 845-9742 Mon., Tues. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed., Thu., and Fri. 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (open for calls only after 5 p.m.) Closed Sat. and Sun. NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS call (905) 845-9742 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com