Summer weather is here and so is the chance of spreading invasive species into a new habitat. Fire wood is one of the many ways you can transport something to a foreign environment, and possibly cause damage to.

"Some of the Invasive Species we are really concerned about, especially Emerald Ash Borer, is transported through fire wood," said Kyla Maslaniec, who is an urban forester with Manitoba Sustainable Development.

Maslaniec stated if you are camping or having fires in one area, it's important to remember to leave the excess firewood in that area to prevent the spread of insects and other tree related bugs or diseases another area may not have.

"Emerald Ash Borer in particular really takes advantage of these new habitats," explained Maslaniec. "It originates from parts of Asia, but it's right at home in Canada and parts of the United States. Because it doesn't have some of the natural checks and balances in its new habitat, it's able to take advantage of that and spread really quickly, then the native trees here don't really have any resistance to it at all."

There are a variety of symptoms and signs people can look for, to see if their tree is being affected by Emerald Ash Borers.

"We first look for a thinning of the crown of the tree. It's actually the larva, not the adults that kill the tree. They grow and feed, just under the bark of the tree. It just basically makes it so the tree can't feed itself any more," said Maslaniec.

According to Maslaniec other signs you can visibly look for are small 'D' shaped exit holes, which is where the larva will exit the tree once it has matured. She went on to say under the bark you may see 'S' shaped galleries that are caused by the feeding of the larva.

"It's really hard to tell and that's why we don't want people moving hard wood fire wood, because we just don't know what's in there," concluded Maslaniec.