Owen Sound is preparing for the Emerald Ash Borer and fighting the bug could cost one million dollars over the next decade.
A full inventory of ash trees on city land is now underway.
The process started this week and the Manager of Parks and Open spaces, John Howard, says a report will likely come to council in the fall.
Natural Resources Solutions Limited will locate the trees and create a map of ash trees on city owned lands.
Although the Ash Borer insect has not been spotted in Owen Sound, Howard says we are basically surrounded by the bugs.
The pests typically kill mature trees in one to three years.
Treating a tree with “TreeAzin”, the only registered pesticide which protects against the bug, will cost $135 each or more depending on the size of the tree.
That treatment is only good for two years.
Howard has presented a guesstimate to City council that shows removal of infected trees or injections to save some, could cost an average of $100,000 each year for 10 years.
The current survey of trees in Owen Sound does not cover privately owned Ash trees.
Howard says it is up to the homeowner to get an inspection done, or to treat a tree on their property.