Dutch Elm Disease (DED) surveys and emerald ash borer (EAB) monitoring are underway again this season in Dauphin.
Provincial inspectors will be driving, biking or walking around both public and private properties to look for DED-infected trees, elm firewood with bark (which spreads DED and is illegal to store), or EAB-infested trees.
Kyla Maslaniec, an urban forester with the Province of Manitoba's Forestry and Peatlands Branch, says that Manitoba's low tree diversity is the main reason behind the DED program.
"We relied heavily on elm trees and then, subsequently, ash trees... We do have a lot of urban elms in the province and a lot of mature urban elms that provide a lot of our mature tree canopy cover in urban areas, so to maintain that tree canopy we need to control the spread of Dutch Elm Disease," she adds.
She also says that Dauphin has a number of wild elms in the area, which makes managing and slowing the spread of the disease more challenging, and that since Dauphin has a lot of very nice large, mature elm trees that still remain in the community, it's more important to her to try and maintain those trees in the landscape.
In addition to the DED surveys, they are also monitoring for emerald ash borers.
According to Maslaniec, they are incredibly destructive to ash trees and are extremely difficult to control once they've established themselves in a new area.
"We haven't actually found any emerald ash borers outside of Winnipeg so far, but we do monitor for emerald ash borers throughout the province," she adds.
Kyla Maslaniec also wants to warn people not to move firewood because that's how the beetles spread from one area to another.
Inspectors may be working in the evenings and on weekends. They wear high-visibility vests and government-issued identification and may also be wearing masks due to COVID-19.
Anyone interested in learning more about the program can call the Manitoba Tree Line at 204-945-7866 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
