June 2, 2016 - Residents may notice new green prism traps hanging from City trees this summer.  These detection traps will be used to monitor for the presence of Emeral Ash Borer (EAB) in Thunder Bay. There are approximately 50 traps being hung in the canopy of ash trees  on City boulevards and in City parks.

The green prism traps will be in place and monitored until the beginning of September.

Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive insect that targets and kills all species of ash trees except Mountain Ash, which is not a true ash. EAB is quickly moving across the continent by hitchhiking in firewood, but it has not yet been detected in the Thunder Bay region. However, EAB has been found as close to Thunder Bay as Sault Saint Marie, ON to the east and Duluth, MN to the south.

Detection efforts have been coordinated by the Northwestern Ontario EAB Task Force for the region and carried out by federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, as well as private landowners for the past six years. 

"We hope we won't find any EAB in Thunder Bay, but if they are here we want to know," said Shelley Vescio, City Forester with the City's Parks & Open Spaces Section and Chair of the Northwestern Ontario EAB Task Force.

"About one quarter of Thunder Bay's street trees are ash trees. When EAB arrives here all of those ash trees will be killed and will require immediate removal to reduce potential hazards."

A preventative treatment option is available to save high value trees and help preserve the ash component of the urban forest canopy. Left untreated, all ash trees will be dead within about five years of EAB's arrival.

Residents and visitors can help the City prevent the spread of EAB. The single most important thing people can do is to not move firewood.

For more information, visit www.dontmovefirewood.ca

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Contact:  Shelley Vescio - City Forester, 625-2473, 628-5368 or svescio@thunderbay.ca