emerald ash borer

City to fell thousands of ash trees in new year

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The city is stepping up its campaign against the devastation the emerald ash borer insect has wrought on forested areas.

Under a program announced in December, some 4,300 ash trees are to be felled by June in an effort to contain the spread of the beetle. The trees are to be cut in virtually all areas of the city.

First detected in the Montcalm district in 2017, presumably aboard a load of firewood, the insect infestation has quick- ly spread and forced the city to take action. Last year, the city issued a four-year action plan to limit the impact of infected and threatened trees on the environment.

Forestry experts consider the eradication of the emerald ash borer impossible given that the insect kills virtually all ash trees in any given area. According to the city plan, “municipal governments are responsible for managing the economic, environmental and social impacts in both urban and forested areas.”

Coun. Marie-Josée Asselin, the city executive committee member responsible for natural environments and biodiversity, said in a news release, “The emerald ash borer is transforming our landscapes and there will be fewer and fewer ash trees in Quebec City in the coming years. The city is proactive in providing a safe environment at all times and thus preventing the fall of branches or trunks of ash trees attacked by the emerald ash borer.”

The list of targeted trees in urban areas includes 170 in Beauport, 27 in Charlesbourg, 317 in La Haute-Saint-Charles, 261 in La Cité-Limoilou, 214 in Les Rivières and 55 in Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge.

In forested areas of the city, the removal of ash trees amounts to a logging opera- tion. In Parc Duberger, 1,500 trees will come down; in Parc de la rivière Cap-Rouge, 1,000; Parc du Marais, 435; Domaine Cataraqui, 216; and Domaine Maizerets 120.

As for threatened ash trees on private property, the city encourages residents to take action to avoid risks associated with dying trees and falling branches. Grants are available for the felling and removal of trees. Information on the ash borer program is available on the city’s website.

Such a major tree removal operation creates a lot of wood. City spokesperson Jean-Pascal Lavoie told the QCT in an email, “All the wood felled to combat the emerald ash borer is reval- ued. Several ‘products’ can be generated from the same tree depending on the quality of the wood. First, the wood chips generated by the cutting are generally used as forest mulch in various flower beds in the city, as well as distributed to local organizations working for the city (e.g. community gardens).

“When the quality of the wood meets the necessary criteria, we repurpose it, through the forestry industry, for pulp and paper or sawn products,” Lavoie said.

Some of the ash wood is turned into various products by non-profit groups. Les Artisans du Saint-Laurent, for example, builds sailboats and rowboats from the wood. Another organization makes park benches with ash lumber.