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ash tree wipeout - impact

S

SHALER

Member
If you live in the mid atlantic and eastern corn belt you know ash trees are dying left and right. Is this impacting anything that you know of? Like is firewood cheap now because there are all these dead trees? Are they operating round the clock at the baseball bat factory because they have all this wood, do you have to wait 4 weeks for the tree trimmer man to show up etc.?
 
I havent seen any impact on the price of firewood, I lost all my ash trees and havent seen any live ones. I dont use a tree trimmer,lol,Just my Stihl
 
It seems as if every time the wind blows with any sort of a gust, I get called in to work to remove an ash tree from the road. If it gets real windy like in a storm, we were having to remove sometimes a hundred each time. So if we get a real good storm, we just put a front plow on a tandem and push them off the road. We have been working at cutting all of the dead ones out of our road right of way, but usually the problem ones are the ones that are out of our right of ways but tall enough to get on or across the road. Then we have to cut them up and throw them or push them off the road. Have not seen any land owners trying to get them away from the road, they wait for us to do it. I went and cut all of the ash on mine along the road to try to prevent that. Our local sawmill is still buying ash if it is dead, as long as it is fairly solid. They are using it for crane matting, pallet material and other stuff where looks aren't important. You can't find a big enough live one around here anymore to have it sawn
 
Ash trees grow like weeds here for now, but the ash borer is only a county away. I read somewhere to gather up ash seeds and put them in the freezer until the bugs hits and the trees die and the bug moves on.. Then plant the frozen seeds to establish your ash trees again.
 
You will have a very long wait, waiting for them to move on! And there is now evidence that they are attacking other species of trees.
 
I cut beans around the edge of my woods and after a few pases I seen trees falling everywhere. Dad and neighbor have been cutting all summer,and were waiting on me to get them some room. We have close to a hundred to go.
 
As the owner of a woodlot outside of Detroit, I have a pretty good idea of the impact of EAB. The insect has destroyed 100% of the old growth ash trees in my 20 acres of woods. They come down every time a wind storm blows thru. One sent me to the ER two years ago. I have only ever heard of them attacking one other species of tree. Something called White Fringe tree and I understand these can be propagated by grafting onto Ash root stock so...make your own conclusions there. There is no need to save seeds. The EAB is not going to move thru your area and disappear. Neither do they kill the tree. Just the part above ground dies. The root remains and hundreds of small Ash sprout from those roots. In our woods, some are reaching 2-3" caliper and are attacked by EAB. Smaller ones are not attacked. Some of these trees produce seed before succumbing to EAB, but it does not matter because the roots keep sending up more. I think the EAB will stabilize in time and the Ash will rebound. Nature has a way of taking care of such things.

If you love your woodlot, though, be prepared for some heart break. You will not be spared nor will any individual trees. They will all die and you would be better off to take them down while the lumber is of value than to leave them. The dead trees are very dangerous.
 
At some point I figure it will be like roundup resistant weeds - ash trees will change enough that the borer doesn't affect them as badly. I am replacing trees in the barnyard like crazy hoping that they get established in time take over the shade duty. There are borers in all of them but I have been able/to keep the infestation to a minimum quite by accident. I had one tree also infected with carpenter/ants. I put Lorsban in a watering can and poured it on the tree trunk. It must have gone systemic as the borers haven't been in that tree in a couple of years. The wood pile is right under that tree and you can hear the wood pile crunching and moving there are so many. Next year I am going to try treating others and see what happens. I've only lost one large ash tree in the yard but there are dozens so it's kind of like waiting for the shoe to drop.

I have several ash trees that are around 10 feet tall. They came up as seedlings and I have left them to see if they will make it. There is a place advertising on the radio here that they have a Fertilome drench for ash borer. Maybe I will get some and try it for the younger trees.
 
I had a lot of ash trees in my woods and they all died off. If they are cut within a couple years after they die you will get all kinds of suckers coming off the roots of the old tree. I have a couple here by the house I cut 2 years ago and this summer I trimed all the suckers off but left the biggest one. Thew must be close to 15 foot tall now and seem to be healthy
 
I have a tree farm here in Northern Indiana and receive a quarterly publication called "THE WOODLAND STEWARD". It is published by a group of leaders of several state level forestry organizations. A couple issues back a major article appeared about the EAB damage across the Hoosier state (Indiana). Stated was the fact that the EAB infests and kills over 95% of all varieties of Ash trees. However nature has already produced some resistant mutations that already are growing. They are watching and searching the state for the very small % of trees that are surviving so that seed can saved and a breeding program can begin. Other states probably are making similar efforts. If you know of such a tree in your area, let it be known.
Most people don't care, but enough people remember past tree species disasters and want to help.
 
I have not heard this and find it interesting. I only question how it can be true as the EAB is not a bacteria, virus or fungus. I know you know this, but it is an insect whose larval stage undermines the bark. The tree in question would have to either have bark that resists the larva or the tree itself camouflages itself from the beetle so it does not recognize it as an Ash(?). I have to admit that would be pretty cool! This is the time of year when I can visually inventory my trees as the under story defoliates and the canopy colors. I will look to see if anything looks like an Ash. Not aware there is a single one of size left though. The woodlot is my favorite part of the farm.
 
We have several on some property we own and also have a garden there . They used to be several Ash tress on one side of the garden but now all are dead. I will cut them down this winter there are about 7 of them.
 
The ash bore keeps creeping South to my area so I sent what I had mature to the mill a couple of years ago. Still have some younger trees left and still checking for the bug but nothing yet. But I know it's only a matter of time.

Kirk
 
Lots of dead trees around. I can't see where it has influenced firewood prices. After the elms all died out in the 60's a lot of new elms came from seeds in the ground but started dying off in the late 80's. My cousin worked in the greenhouse at the University of Guelph where they were trying to breed resistant elms. I'm hoping the ash trees regenerate from the seed bank and a control measure is found. As far as firewood ash is really nice to split but not as hot as some woods in my experience.
 
I have lost about a dozen large white ash trees over the last 20 years. Good hot burning firewood and rot resistant on the ground.
 
The city I live in came by and injected something in the 2 huge ones in the front yard. They survived, but 3 yrs later and still healthy the cut them down anyway. Have a cigar box full of seeds. Goi g to plant in the spring on my 2 acre lot. I like it for firewood, not that I'll be around for the to mature. Have a lot of red oak to burn. Ash doesn't soak up water like red oak. Cut down 72 red oaks in August. Trunks went to the mill. Anybody in central Michigan ned some red oak? Have about 12 or 15 cord to get rid of. Going to keep a few for me. Will rot before I can use it all.
 

Hope the "new resistant" ash does not end up like the Scrub-brush we now have as "Elm Trees"... They come up all over, but die after about 3-4 years...guess that blight is still around..?
 
This is the second time on here that I had seen you refer to maple as poor firewood. ???????????????????? Hard Maple is one of the best fire woods out there. Are you referring to soft maple by any chance? There are only one or two species that I am aware of which provide more BTU's than hard maple. I believe black walnut is one of them. I believe they are referring to northern white ash, which is also considered very good fire wood and makes very good baseball bats.
 
(quoted from post at 18:14:24 10/20/16) Must be something different from what we call Ash Trees because its a pretty poor firewood about the same as Maple.
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Ash may not be the best fire wood but it ranks as 3rd or maybe 4th best around here(NNY)If ash was all I had and I had enough to get me through the winter I'D be a happy camper.If popple was all I had and I had enough I'd be happy too!
Always laugh when I hear of people knocking this wood or that.You burn whats availiable to you
 
Apparently you have never used Hickory,White Oak or Black Locust.And yes I have cut hard Maple and its OK if you can't get anything else about like Cherry but nothing compared to Black Locust or Hickory which will put out way more heat than even Oak.
 

Around here white oak is saved for saw logs, locust goes into sills or really, really good fence posts. Firewood? That would be anything from poplar to scrub cherry and birch, elm, dead ash, soft maple, ironwood, etc. Any hardwood that we can get that not worth making into lumber or fenceposts/sills, etc goes for firewood. You burn the garbage, not the good stuff!
 
Takes just as much work to cut trash as it does to cut quality firewood plus you have to burn 2X or 3X to get the same amount of heat.There are plenty of cull Oak,Hickory and Black Locust
trees to cut on my farm so why fool with the trash stuff? I cut down cull maples,poplar,gum etc and let them rot just to get them out of the way of the good trees.Most stands of timber in my area need thinning anyway.
 
(quoted from post at 09:39:32 10/23/16) Takes just as much work to cut trash as it does to cut quality firewood plus you have to burn 2X or 3X to get the same amount of heat.There are plenty of cull Oak,Hickory and Black Locust
trees to cut on my farm so why fool with the trash stuff? I cut down cull maples,poplar,gum etc and let them rot just to get them out of the way of the good trees.Most stands of timber in my area need thinning anyway.
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Seems a waste to me. We cut to improve the stand as much as possible or to clear pasture. Anything larger than a broom stick goes in the firewood pile. I know a lot of people that won't cut up tops, they only want main trunk sections. Takes a lot of time and effort to split wood when branch wood doesn't need it. I guess it's just what you're used to doing. Anything left in the woods here from a cut tree is pretty small.
 
(quoted from post at 09:32:39 10/21/16) This is the second time on here that I had seen you refer to maple as poor firewood. ???????????????????? Hard Maple is one of the best fire woods out there. Are you referring to soft maple by any chance? There are only one or two species that I am aware of which provide more BTU's than hard maple. I believe black walnut is one of them. I believe they are referring to northern white ash, which is also considered very good fire wood and makes very good baseball bats.
Click to expand...

Don,Many old timers around here ,maybe where you are as well,refer to box elder as" ash maple".Hardly great fire wood.Maybe that's what Traditional Farmer is thinking of.
 
(quoted from post at 13:34:14 10/24/16)
(quoted from post at 09:32:39 10/21/16) This is the second time on here that I had seen you refer to maple as poor firewood. ???????????????????? Hard Maple is one of the best fire woods out there. Are you referring to soft maple by any chance? There are only one or two species that I am aware of which provide more BTU's than hard maple. I believe black walnut is one of them. I believe they are referring to northern white ash, which is also considered very good fire wood and makes very good baseball bats.
Click to expand...

Don,Many old timers around here ,maybe where you are as well,refer to box elder as" ash maple".Hardly great fire wood.Maybe that's what Traditional Farmer is thinking of.
Click to expand...

Box elder. Yuck. Got a lot of it around me. The stuff springs up like a weed but if you have a nice one you want to keep it seems that the slightest harm, a broken branch or a tiny bump from a lawn mower, will cause it to die. Lousy firewood, but still better than paying for fuel.
 
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