After this, as Co-Chair of Green 13, I applied for funding from Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) to go towards an urban forest project in Ward 13. The first step was to increase our awareness by inviting experts to present to us on the issue. Then throughout the winter, a core group of volunteers continued to reach out to residents' associations, BIAs, community groups, individuals, our councillor, and LEAF to figure out how we could address this challenge.
We knew we required training, resources and a website. Thanks to the support of the Junction Residents' Association (JRA), Maureen Spillane secured a domain, and webmistress Patricia Warwick built the site - www.saveourash.ca.
In June, LEAF provided free EAB Ambassador training here at Runnymede Library, including resource kits for every attendee. We worked further with LEAF to organize 4 door-to-door canvass events to talk to our neighbours about the issue and leave information.
Reception at the door has been quite gratifying. Many people have not heard of the ash problem, and they are glad to receive the information. Even if folks don't have an ash, I ask them to please share word of the EAB in their circuit of friends, school chums, faith or business community. During our last canvass, we braved the heavy rain, and were rewarded with a broad rainbow at the end, reaching from Eglinton down to the lake. We deserved it!
For months we had felt that an effective way to help the public learn to identify ash trees would be through clear signage on ash trees. Save Our Ash has been able to modify signage which an Ohio citizens' group created to alert the public to the EAB problem. We thank Warren’s Waterless and MEC for their generous support in helping us produce these signs. We will be posting these at the foot of ash trees throughout the ward. Please watch for them!
We are continuing to canvass, and urging folks to take action during this critical window to save what we can and to plant new trees. We also hope to begin an inventory of all trees in Ward 13. We still have so many more homes to reach. It will surely take many more canvasses, and more volunteers are always welcome. If you’re interested, leave a comment below or email me directly.