peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
Well its been creeping up for years but looks like its potentially in the Maine side of the WMNF.
https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news...cle_1d7364d4-0fde-11ec-8fd5-87180dfdb042.html
Folks in the midwest where Ash Trees were a dominant tree type have gone through the rapid loss of ash forests. Up in the WMNF, ash is an important component of the forest but its pretty rare to find it as the dominant type in a stand. It is a handy indicator of potential water sources. As a old time forester told me once, "ash likes to keep its feet wet". If I see ash growing in a hardwood stand its usually in the low points and by following it downslope there is good chance of a spring nearby. Because it like to grow near streams, it frequently is within the buffer left by loggers around water sources and they can grow quite large without being harvested. There is no commercial treatment, if landowners have ash trees on their land the advice is get it cut as soon as the EAB is nearby and get some value out of it. There is a demand for the wood, a lot consumer grade "oak" furniture is actually ash. Its a lot easier to work with than oak. Once the EAB gets to it, its turns into firewood quickly. There are treatments for single and ornamental trees but its not practical for forest stands. Once the EAB moves in they kill the trees quickly and ash tends to rot standing so they become hazard trees quickly. My guess is they will move up the river valleys into the whites. EAB is in Southern VT, southern NH and Western Maine so it was just a matter to time before it moved into the whites.
https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news...cle_1d7364d4-0fde-11ec-8fd5-87180dfdb042.html
Folks in the midwest where Ash Trees were a dominant tree type have gone through the rapid loss of ash forests. Up in the WMNF, ash is an important component of the forest but its pretty rare to find it as the dominant type in a stand. It is a handy indicator of potential water sources. As a old time forester told me once, "ash likes to keep its feet wet". If I see ash growing in a hardwood stand its usually in the low points and by following it downslope there is good chance of a spring nearby. Because it like to grow near streams, it frequently is within the buffer left by loggers around water sources and they can grow quite large without being harvested. There is no commercial treatment, if landowners have ash trees on their land the advice is get it cut as soon as the EAB is nearby and get some value out of it. There is a demand for the wood, a lot consumer grade "oak" furniture is actually ash. Its a lot easier to work with than oak. Once the EAB gets to it, its turns into firewood quickly. There are treatments for single and ornamental trees but its not practical for forest stands. Once the EAB moves in they kill the trees quickly and ash tends to rot standing so they become hazard trees quickly. My guess is they will move up the river valleys into the whites. EAB is in Southern VT, southern NH and Western Maine so it was just a matter to time before it moved into the whites.
