When a new invasive species sweeps across a region, it can leave destruction in its wake. Sometimes it's a matter of an occasional defoliation as is the case with the spongy moth. In other cases the new species can take out an entire species such as the American elm or the American chestnut. Unfortunately, the emerald ash borer is in the latter category, except that there are three species at risk. This saddens me for many reasons. Ash trees are beautiful and serve important biological roles at the base of forest food webs. They underpin important cultural traditions both for the Abenaki and for the Irish. Vermonters are well aware that black ash provides the raw materials for traditional Abenaki baskets. You may well wonder Irish tradition is fostered by Vermont ash? When I first moved to Vermont I learned at the Champlain Valley Fair, that ash root stock with a little trunk still attached was being shipped to Ireland to manufacture our traditional hurley sticks for one of our national sports: hurling (which has nothing to do with the after effects of beer consumption). The wood grain sweeping through the wood down into the root provides the necessary grain curvature to make these sticks. With our ash now infested, I sincerely hope we are not exporting it anywhere.
As we lose our ash, I encourage people to plant a diverse selection of native tree species so that when the next invasive species comes, your plantings eill not be decimated.
