City testing trees for invasive emerald ash borer

“We’ve been hearing about this for a couple of years now,” Mayor Ryan Bater said, adding he is aware that the emerald ash borer may be moving west across Canada.

“It kills ash trees, all of them,” he said.

The EAB was found in Winnipeg in 2017 so there is a risk it will spread to Saskatchewan.

North Battleford’s Parks Department has started conducting testing on ash trees in the community to determine if the insect is present in the North Battleford area.

“We have traps out to check for that,” Bater said. “We’ll see what they come up with.”

The city’s Leisure Services Director Cheryl DeNeire said in her report to council the federal department that is involved in testing for the insect put out two traps this week to determine if the EAB is present in local area ash trees.

“It’s one of the ways of monitoring activity,” DeNeire said. “‘They are also going to the top of tree tops and pulling back the bark to check for beetle activity near the tree tops.”

She said hopefully the experts won’t identify any problems.

DeNeire mentioned Saskatoon has installed 20 traps to test for the beetle in a similar program.

According to the Government of Saskatchewan the beetles live and breed in ash wood.

To help prevent the EAB from spreading, the province said it is important to first identify the presence of the beetles early, and then remove any infested trees.

The province recommends people not transport ash firewood and wood products from an area known to be infested with the insects.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Angela Brown

City testing trees for invasive emerald ash borer

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