Landowner proposes to cut down 5,000 ash trees
Faced with a legal challenge by the city of Beaconsfield, a private owner of a tract of land in Angell Woods is proposing a timetable to potentially fell more than 5,000 ash trees as a preventive measure to control the spread of the destructive emerald ash borer beetle (EAB).
Last October, city council tabled a resolution calling for legal recourse targeting private landowners who have yet to submit a plan to protect wooded areas from the spread of the EAB, whose presence had been confirmed within Beaconsfield’s territory and neighbouring municipalities.
As of last fall, the city hadn’t yet received plans from two key private owners who happen to be involved in protracted purchase negotiations with the City of Montreal. However, Yale Properties Ltd. filed its silviculture plan, a forest management document, last Thursday.
Under Beaconsfield’s EAB control bylaw, tabled in 2014, private owners of one hectare or more of forested areas were required to submit a silviculture prescription, outlining the possible felling or treatment of ash trees, by spring 2015.
Yale has informed the city that it is prepared to fell all ash trees on its lot if given the green light by the city, or at the very least those ash trees that are 15 centimetres or more in diameter, according to a letter sent by the firm’s lawyer.
According to the forestry expert hired by Yale, there are about 3,265 ash trees deemed merchantable which are over 15 centimetres in diameter. The stumpage value of these logs, which could be used for fuelwood or sent to a sawmill, is estimated at about $15,600.
Yale’s forest management plan notes that there are about 5,800 merchantable ash trees on its property that are over 10 centimetres in diameter.
The report states that it is advisable to cut all the ash trees in one year to save on logging costs.
Under the proposed plan, Yale is to seek a cutting permit from the city this month and then award a logging contract with work to take place in March. Once the logging is completed, a summary report is to be filed, including plans for required reforestation. Replanting would cost between $1,000 and $3,000, the report estimates.
Yale’s Angell Woods lot measures about 3.5 million square feet.
Yale representative Menashi Mashaal didn’t want to comment on the silviculture plan. He stated their lawyer’s letter indicating their intentions as well as the forestry reports sent to the city, which were shared with the Montreal Gazette, speak for themselves.
Beaconsfield director general Patrice Boileau said Yale’s plan is under analysis.
Mayor Georges Bourelle said Yale, by submitting a tree management plan, has complied with the city’s request, although the city still has to verify if its action plan conforms with the felling, transportation and tree replacement conditions set by the EAB bylaw.
Considering the number of ash trees involved, nothing will be accomplished in a short period, the mayor said, adding the city may offer a counterproposal to Yale’s submitted plan.
According to the EAB bylaw, specific rules apply to private forests of one hectare or larger, such as limiting the felling of a maximum of 30 per cent of the tree volume, distributed uniformly across the area, over a 10-year period, per designated lot. A certificate of authorization is required before any trees can be felled.
Bourelle said he has no idea if Yale’s offer to cut the ash trees in Angell Woods is meant to apply pressure on Montreal to negotiate a purchase agreement for the lot.
“The agglomeration’s real estate people are responsible for negotiating the purchase of land. As far as I’m concerned, they are still hoping to be able to sit down and negotiate for the two remaining pieces of land,” the mayor said.