Planted vs. Natural - What is protected under the ESA? 

• Planted butternut trees are not protected unless planted as a condition under an ESA 2007 permit (see below).
• Naturally occurring butternut trees of any size and age are protected. If you wish to remove one, it must first be assessed by a designated Butternut Health Assessor (BHA) to determine if it is retainable.
• Butternut trees hybridize with other Juglans species, e.g. Japanese walnut. Hybrid trees are not protected. Visual characteristics can often help determine if your tree is a hybrid, but any butternut-like tree that is proposed for removal should be assessed by an expert to ensure you are not removing a pure butternut. 

Butternut Assessment - Can I remove the butternut tree on my property? 

• Naturally occurring butternut trees that have been assessed as non-retainable may be removed. Non-retainable means that the tree is dead or its health is so severely affected by canker that the tree is not of value to the recovery effort, and therefore, may be removed.
• If you have a naturally occurring butternut that has been assessed as retainable you will have to apply for a permit under the ESA 2007 to determine if it can be removed, and under what conditions.
• Contact your local Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) Species at Risk (SAR) Biologist who can supply you with a list of local BHAs. You will also be able to find contact information for qualified BHAs on the OMNR website (by May 2009).
• If you are planning to log your woodlot, an OMNR-certified tree marker can help you to select the trees to be removed to ensure the continued health of your forest. The OMNR is helping certified tree markers to become BHAs, so that they can also determine which of your butternut are retainable or non-retainable. 

Permits - What if I have a retainable tree?  

• If you have a naturally occurring, retainable butternut tree, as confirmed by a BHA, and you wish to remove the tree or undertake activities that may harm it, you must first apply for and obtain a permit from the OMNR. There are four types of permits:
  

1. Health and safety;
2. Protection or recovery of the species;
3. Overall benefit to the species; and
4. Significant social or economic benefit to Ontario.
   

• You must obtain a permit to transplant seedlings that occur naturally.
• In some cases, the permit will have conditions (e.g., require planting and tending seedlings in a suitable site). 

Responsibilities 

• It is the landowner’s responsibility to contact a BHA to determine if their butternut tree is retainable.
• Even if the tree appears to be dead or dying, it must be assessed by a BHA before removal.
• If a butternut tree is removed without a Butternut Health Assessment, or without a permit, the landowner may be at risk of prosecution under the ESA 2007.
• In any prosecution, a person has the opportunity to raise a defence that the person exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence, or the person honestly and reasonably believed in the existence of facts, that if true, would render the person’s conduct innocent. 

Pruning and Root Disturbance - What can I do around my butternut tree? 

• Pruning the crown or disturbing the roots of retainable butternut trees can occur without an ESA 2007 permit, provided an expert has determined that the proposed work will not cause harm to the butternut tree. 

Butternut Wood - What if I have items made from butternut? 

• A person is entitled to possess items made from butternut wood that were legally obtained before the ESA 2007 was put into place on June 30, 2008, regardless of the health of the tree the items came from.
• Any wood from a non-retainable butternut tree can be used, bought or sold. 

Planting Butternut 

• Planting butternut is encouraged to help keep butternut on the landscape to give us time to develop recovery options.
• Butternut seeds can be collected, bought, sold and planted anywhere.
• Ensure the seed or seedlings you plant are from pure butternut that is adapted to your local climate. Ideally the seed will have been collected from vigorously growing retainable trees.
• Keep records of the location of planted butternuts — they are not subject to the ESA 2007 unless they were planted as a condition under an ESA 2007 permit.
• Please contact the Forest Gene Conservation Association (FGCA) for a list of butternut growers. 

Butternut Recovery - What can I do to help? 

• OMNR encourages landowners to report any butternut on their property. The Ontario Recovery Team is interested in learning where butternuts are surviving the disease. They want to monitor such trees for seed to support planting programs and for their value to clone for a disease-resistance breeding program.
• To report butternut trees or for help getting trees assessed and finding seed/seedlings, call the Ontario Woodlot Association at 1-888-791-1103 ext. #221. The OWA will pass your request on to the Forest Gene Conservation Association and the Butternut Recovery Team.