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![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4109992_web1_260401-Emerald-Ash-Borer-00093.jpg\")
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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS <\/p>\n
\nAn infested ash tree on Overton Street near Glenwood Community Centre, where the city has found an emerald ash borer outbreak.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a look at them and, sure enough, it was very obvious,\u201d Barwinsky said.<\/p>\n
\u201cImmediately, we began doing a survey of the surrounding area and found more. So at this point, we are looking at approximately 40 or so trees that are physically infected in the neighbourhood and that surrounding area and we also have been finding trees in additional spots.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking at double the number of trees.\u201d<\/p>\n
After years of warnings, as the emerald ash borers migrated east across the Prairies, the bug was first found in Winnipeg trees in 2017.<\/p>\n
At that time, the city worried the bright-green insects would destroy the ash tree population in a decade, but as of last year, only 22 infected trees needed to be removed.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS <\/p>\n
Barwinsky said as well as the trees in Glenwood, two trees have been found in the Royalwood neighbourhood, an unknown number in the St. George neighbourhood, and others on the St. Boniface Golf Club.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not really surprised about these discoveries, the most recent ones,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year we are expecting to find some and are surprised when we don\u2019t. But this is a much more significant population, the volume of infected trees, than we certainly found back in 2017. We are looking at double the number of trees. We are actually going to start some of those removals this week.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it was the cold, but unfortunately (the beetles) seem to be propagating now.\u201d<\/p>\n Christian Cassidy, executive director of Trees Winnipeg, said the city has been lucky because ash tree populations were devastated in other cities within a decade.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it was the cold, but unfortunately (the beetles) seem to be propagating now,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p>\n \u201cA few years back, when they came here, everybody was holding their breath, but now there are more trees.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy said he\u2019s glad the city has spent the last decade diversifying the types of trees planted along boulevards.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t An emerald ash borer that was found by Andrew Short in Vancouver, on June 15, 2023, is seen in a handout photo. The insect was first spotted in Winnipeg trees in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years, American elms was all they planted until the 1950s and it left the urban canopy susceptible. Then, in the suburbs, ash trees were planted. It looks odd now, when you see a mix of planting on boulevards, because you\u2019re used to seeing only one type of tree, but there is definitely reasoning behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n Barwinsky said a new pest was found in the city last August \u2014 the elm zigzag sawfly.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a sighting and a detection in the Fort Garry neighbourhood, and then another in the northeast section of the city around Eaglemere and Valley Gardens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a new defoliator and unfortunately it attacks our elm trees. It is quite destructive\u2026 it is a pretty voracious feeder.\u201d<\/p>\n Barwinsky said the bug feeds on leaves, between the veins, creating a zigzag pattern as it munches through the leaf.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not the only problem with the new bug.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest concern with this pest is it can have multiple generations in a season \u2014 usually from May to September \u2014 and we may see four to six generations during that period of time. And, it doesn\u2019t have to mate to produce eggs for a new generation.\u201d<\/p>\n No pesticide is registered for use against the elm zigzag, which was native in parts of China and Japan before spreading to Europe in 2003.<\/p>\n The bug was confirmed in Quebec in 2020, the first established area in North America, but since then it has spread to almost a dozen states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know how it got into Winnipeg,\u201d Barwinsky said. \u201cWith any of these pests, they are transported on infected wood, on infected trees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a pretty voracious feeder.\u201d<\/p>\n Barwinsky said elm trees are resilient because their leaves grow back after being eaten, but it becomes a problem if it happens year after year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defoliation will cause stress to the trees and, if there are other stressors, for example severe drought conditions\u2026 the trees can eventually succumb.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS <\/p>\n
The city\u2019s canopy has been affected by Dutch elm disease for years. A report prepared for city council said Winnipeg had a 3.4 per cent loss rate of American elms due to the disease in 2024, resulting in 6,616 trees being tagged for removal. The target average annual loss rate is two per cent.<\/p>\n Winnipeg has more than 194,000 elms \u2014 the most of any city in North America \u2014 and they\u2019re all at risk of the disease.<\/p>\n The disease is caused by a fungus that slowly wilts the leaves and turns them a brownish colour. It stops the transportation of water throughout the tree\u2019s vascular system.<\/p>\n kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Kevin Rollason Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until\u00a01988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press\u2019s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\nAn emerald ash borer’s exit hole has been marked on an infested tree on Overton Street. Approximately 40 trees in the neighbourhood have been infested.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tANDREW SHORT \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS HANDOUT
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\nAs of last year, only 22 trees infected by the emerald ash borer needed to be removed in Winnipeg.
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