Sudbury outlines $1.75M plan to remove diseased ash trees from city land

Raw interview: What is the emerald ash borer? David Dutkiewicz, of the Invasive Species Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, explains what you need to know about the emerald ash borer.

Greater Sudbury is planning to remove all 1,500 ash trees on municipal property because of a widespread infestation of a beetle – the emerald ash borer – that infects and kills the trees.

"Ash trees used to be a tree species that were suitable for urban planting in Greater Sudbury," said a staff report headed to the operation committee Oct. 15.

"They contributed to a healthy urban canopy, were integral to air quality, ecological health of soil and watersheds and were resistant to road maintenance activities (e.g. salt and sand application)."

However, since it was first detected in 2002 in Windsor, Ont., the invasive beetle has steadily been moving north, destroying ash trees everywhere it turns up.

"Up to 99 per cent of ash trees within a specific location are killed by EAB (emerald ash borer) within 8-10 years of its establishment," the staff report said.

"EAB affects and eventually kills all ash species, including green ash and white ash that occur frequently in Greater Sudbury as street trees, in parks and private properties and in rural areas."

Another type of ash tree – black ash – is now endangered because of the invasive beetle.

The dead and dying trees become a particular hazard during extreme weather, the staff report said, because they are easily uprooted.

"This was evident during the 2018 and 2021 microbursts and several ice storms that caused hundreds of trees, many of them Ash trees, to fall and cause significant damage in the community," the report said.

Since 2022, about 250 ash trees have been removed in the community, with another 1,000 remaining. There are another 500 dead or diseased trees in city parks, cemeteries and Sudbury Housing properties that need to be removed.

While the original plan was to remove all the trees by 2027, the EAB has progressed much faster than expected and the removal and replanting process must be accelerated.

The city has applied for a grant for the tree removal and replanting project from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Growing Canada’s Community Canopies, which offers to pay 50 per cent of the costs up to a maximum of $10 million.

The grant seeks funding to remove 1,500 diseased ash trees, at a cost of $1.2 million, and replace them with 18 different species of new trees, at a cost of $550,000.

The city aims to use contractors to complete the removal of ash trees on city property by the end of this year, with stump removal possibly extending into 2025. About 1,500 new trees will be planted at a rate of 400-450 trees each spring.

While the city will remove trees on its property, homeowners are responsible for trees on their property.

"Property owners are responsible for Ash trees on their private property, which includes maintenance, treatment and removal as deemed necessary," the report said.

"Staff will implement an extensive public communication strategy that will include providing information to residents about the project. It will provide information to residents on how they can manage their own private trees that are in decline and how they can assist with growing the city’s urban canopy."

If approved, the work will be funded by the existing tree removal operating budget, offset by the grant, if the application is successful.

Read the full report here. The operations committee will vote on the plan at its meeting Oct. 15.