The Ash Borer is coming and, according to my forester friend at www.theforester.com, there is nothing anyone can do about it.
The Agrilus planipennis, or Emerald Ash Borer as it were, is thought to have originated in Asia, riding the wood packing material in cargo ships making the long journey to North America where it continues to ravage our beloved North American Ash tree, the tree at the heart of America’s favorite past time. Because of this hardwood’s inherent traits of strength coupled with elasticity, Ash is the chosen wood for the vast majority of baseball bats (and bows, electric guitar bodies, office furniture and others.)
The frightening part, especially to landowners like me with nice stands of middle-age ash trees, is that despite a massive, multinational undertaking involving federal and state governments, universities, conservation groups and private landowners there is no known solution to stopping or destroying the ash borer.
While there are quarantines regarding the transportation of Ash timber, containment is failing miserably. Chemical treatments to affect or disrupt the beetle’s life style are largely ineffective. The EAB deposit their larvae under the bark. When the larvae begin to feed, their “galleries injure the phloem and xylem that make up the plant’s circulatory system1”. Systemic insecticides must be transported within the tree itself making an already weak tree even more vulnerable much like chemotherapy used in the treatment of cancer in the human body.
Many landowners have chosen to harvest their ash trees in an effort to hedge some timber value before the worst can happen. This may seem precipitous to some, however, like many landowners, I have lost every last hemlock tree on my land over the past 3 years to the Woolly Adelgid. The Eastern Hemlock is a magnificent tree with a tremendous heritage. Yet, the Pennsylvania State Tree is disappearing quickly to this fluid-feeding insect.
We could continue to lament the loss of the American Chestnut, the Dogwood, the Cedars, the Pines. There is now concern over the Beech Blight Aphid. To lose the American Beech, the exorbitant provider of mast to a diverse order of Pennsylvania woods inhabitants, would be crushing to see as I hike my favorite mountain benches in the Northern Tier.
I am working with our forester as to a course of action on our woodlot, however, the answers are not clear.
Yet, I cannot help but wonder about the socioeconomic forces of globalization that has brought this devastating destruction to our regional ecosystems. I cannot help but wonder if, perhaps, the boundaries of nations have been ordained by a Higher Power. And I certainly give pause over the purchase of more junk from a foreign, cheap-labor market when I imagine the little nasty’s riding in the packaging of my new big-screen TV or designer jeans.
