Ok, I have since found a partial answer in the Spring 2025 issue of the Ontario Woodlander: most southern Ontario forest owners are no longer free to cut black ash on their own property - even if it is declining due to emerald ash borer - unless the tree is assessed as 'unhealthy' by a qualified professional and a detailed report is submitted to Ontario's Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks (and MECP approved). Expensive. Onerous. Impractical. And ultimately ineffective. Inexplicably the ESA regulations do not apply to black ash less than 8cm dbh (ie. the tree size more likely to survive emerald ash borer).
The Ontario Black Ash Regulation 6/24 (under the Endangered Species Act) is found at https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r24006. It was passed in January 2024. It exempts black ash from ESA sections 9 (1) (b) & (c) meaning it is not an offense to possess black ash lumber or anything made from black ash, or to sell, buy, trade black ash or ash items. But O.Reg. 6/24 does make it an ESA s9 (1) (a) offense to "kill, harm, harass, capture or take" a living black ash in southern Ontario.
So it seems like a southern Ontario forest owner is free to cut dead black ash without the need for an MECP approved "health assessment". Is this a correct interpretation?
ER
