OFA has provided comments on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)’s Risk Management Document RMD-25-01 options for managing Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).

OFA supports a practical, science-based national strategy for managing EAB that avoids unnecessary burdens on farmers and rural landowners. OFA emphasizes that effective recovery of ash species must focus on the primary threat (the invasive EAB) rather than imposing restrictive land-use or agricultural regulations that do not contribute to recovery.

OFA urges the CFIA to ensure that any federal framework is clear, predictable, and aligned with existing provincial measures, particularly Ontario’s Black Ash protections, to prevent overlapping or conflicting requirements. OFA supports tools such as biological control, research on ash resistance and regeneration, seed banking, monitoring, and public education, as these directly address the drivers of ash decline.