65 trees will be cut down in Hamilton’s Confederation Park

Trees will be cut down in Confederation Park to battle an invasive species. Hamilton and most of the Golden Horseshoe have been dealing with a small beetle from eastern Asia. The spread of this bug has wiped out millions of trees across North America.

It’s all because of the metallic green, 8 to 13 millimeters long beetles called the Emerald Ash Borer. All of the ash trees are showing signs of declining health due to infestation and they need to come down to slow the spread of the insect.

Dave Morgan of Beswick tree services says these invested trees could also pose a risk to people around them.

“After they have been dead for a couple of years they will get a little scary. They will start losing limbs, pieces will start falling off. Its important to get those trees removed as soon as possible”.

The city says the Emerald Ash Borer has the potential to destroy Hamilton’s entire ash tree population within the next five to ten years.

In Burlington, the city has removed hundreds on residential streets. At this point, the city of Hamilton has cut down over 1,500  ash trees.

In 2012 the city approved a 26.2 million dollar plan over the next ten years to remove all of the dead and dying ash trees.