Petrie Island Tree Inventory

The Friends of Petrie Island (FOPI) is conducting a comprehensive inventory of trees on a set of small islands collectively called Petrie Island in the Ottawa River. The island area is approximately 2 km long and 500 m wide.

The tree population on Petrie Island is dynamic.
• Beavers are active and take down many trees, particularly cottonwood.
• Ash trees are dying from EAB. The City removed about 90 ash trees in 2018 and replanted with mixed species.
• FOPI have planted butternut under the Butternut Recovery Program.
• Shore erosion is a problem that FOPI would like to address by planting trees.
• The island has the largest population of mature hackberry in Ottawa that needs to be documented.
• FOPI has a small tree nursery where they are growing their own stock for planting.

The objectives of the inventory are to:

1. establish a baseline against which changes can be measured; and
2. identify invasive species and their locations.

The Ottawa Stewardship Council (OSC – Janet Mason, lead) in partnership with the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club (OFNC – Owen Clarkin - lead) is carrying out the inventory with support from volunteers and knowledgeable experts. Given the size of island, the inventory will take place over three summers: 2019, 2020, and 2021. less ↑