Gatineau to cut down all ash trees, sick or not

Gatineau has given up on trying to save its ash trees and has contracted with a private firm to cut them all down, sick or not, in the next three years.

This will remove another 40,000 trees from the city, in addition to close to 30,000 trees (including some elms) that are already gone.

The city has concluded there’s just no way to stop the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect with no North American enemies that has eaten its way across the U.S. Midwest, then much of Ontario, and now Gatineau.

The city said dead elms are a danger to people and infrastructure. The trees become brittle after the ash borer kills them, and their trunks and branches tend to snap.

Gatineau had adopted a management plan for the ash borer, but concluded in a document last fall that “all the ash trees will become infested and will die.”

It had tried to cut all of the ash trees near walking and cycling trails, a measure to keep people safe from falling branches.

But this did not take into account the fact that people do not always stay on paved paths.

There are also trees along streets, and as the ash borer spreads, the city concluded the only answer is to cut them down.

The ash borer was identified in Gatineau in 2011, but likely arrived there earlier.

Ottawa still advises woodlot owners not to cut all their ashes right away.

“A tree, even in decline, can offer shade, produce extra oxygen and contribute to a better environment,” says the city’s website on the ash borer.