Ash Trees Removed

More than two dozen ash trees were cut down by the Town of Newmarket along Shanahan Boulevard changing the streetscape for local residents.

"(The trees cut down) were because they were Ash trees that were all affected by the EAB bug and were dying if not already dead. The trees will be replanted but I cannot confirm a date", wrote Town of Newmarket staff member Leigh Nechay in an email.

The emerald ash borer (or EAB bug) is an invasive species that was first detected in our area back in 2002. Native to Asia, the EAB bug has been highly destructive killing tens of millions of ash trees.

Some residents have raised concerns regarding the curb-appeal of Shanahan Boulevard.

"Our street was once a beautiful, tree-lined boulevard," one resident told the Newmarket Bulletin. "Without the trees, the street looks completely different now."

In 2014, the ash trees along Shanahan Boulevard were injected with EAB specific pesticide. The pesticide, TreeAzin, doesn’t stop the adult Emerald Ash Borer from laying her eggs on an ash tree that has been injected nor stop her eggs from hatching into small larva that eat into the bark. What TreeAzin does is make emerging adults infertile or smaller or only able to lay fewer eggs.

Despite these costly injections, trees will still be affected by Emerald Ash Borer and the only solution for affected trees is to have them cut down.

The Town of Newmarket EAB pesticide program is still in place and trees with green dots are injected on odd years and blue dots are even years.

The cost of these pesticide injections from 2012 to 2015 was $125,638.77.

#Newmarket #EmeraldAshBorer #TreeAzin