In the last year, Hamilton lost nearly 10,000 trees to the emerald ash borer

In the last 12 months, Hamilton lost nearly 10,000 trees to the emerald ash borer.

And the city keeps fighting the dreaded invasive beetle, but it hasn't been easy.

According to John Taylor, Hamilton'ssuperintendent of urban forestry, part of the problem is thatonce the emerald ash borer invades, thereis no way atree can be saved. The signs of infestation can only be seen after one or two years of the beetle invading the tree. By then, it's much too late.

It's bad here, Taylor said, but it could be worse.

"Other municipalities are losing a lot more trees than Hamilton," he said.

"We are injecting chemicals into the trees that can be saved and we are replacing each tree destroyed by the borer with a new one."

In April 2015,6,761 trees and 3,747 stumps wereremoved due to the impact of theborer. The removal rate wasabout 2,300 trees per year.

• Hamilton has lost 7,000 ash trees so far and it's already painful

BillLongley,Project Manager, Forest Health, Hamilton said,"Since that time,9,800 of an estimated 23,000 ash trees have been removed. This includes trees in parks,cemeteries, urban, ruralroads and urbanlandscape of Hamilton and191 trees are currentlyon the treatment program." Eight per cent of Hamilton's tree canopy coverage is lost because ofthe invasive species.

The borer was first discovered in Hamilton in 2009 on the central Mountain. InOntario, it was first spotted in 2002.

The Louisville Slugger is at stake

The pest is also threatening themost famous baseball bat ever made. Since 1884, the Louisville Slugger baseball bat has been made from wood from the ash tree. It's been swung by greats such asBabe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Derek Jeterincluded. But no pitcher has threatened to put more holes in theLouisville Slugger than the emerald ash borer.

• Hamilton has lost 7,000 ash trees so far - and it's already painful
• Louisville Slugger braces for attack of tiny killer beetle

This month, the city of Montreal moved to spend$18 million to fight the spread of the emerald ash borer and to plant new trees.

In honour of Earth Week, the city of Hamilton held an open house Tuesdayat the Forestry Operations Facility to celebrate the city's urban forest where they informed citizens about planting trees and offered advice on how to protecttrees from theinvasive species.