Emerald Ash Borer

Our big backyard tree began losing its leaves.  It was a good size tree when we moved here forty years ago, I never paid attention to its growth, but it challenged me each fall when I had to rake fallen leaves from the yard.  These leaves seemed the last to fall.  It had many subtrunks with abundant foliage.  Not that many years ago, it encroached on our next door neighbor's yard.  We had it trimmed.  But this year, or maybe last, some of the lower branches stopped producing leaves.  Eventually a main trunk died while the others grew less of a canopy.  

Our usual tree specialist came to take a look, informing us that we had an insect infestation, the Emerald Ash Borer.  Estimate to remove it with a crane, $6500, though we were able to find another provider who had specialized equipment not requiring a crane who could remove it for significantly less.  Our tree seems to be about 75 years old.  Our neighbor has one in his yard, one that seems to be having either preventive or rescue treatment.

These pests are invasive to America, being natives of Asia.  The invasion began in the Midwest about 10 years ago.  They lay eggs that produce larva under the bark, cutting off the elements of the trees' circulatory system.  Since they need a broad space to lay eggs efficiently, the insect selects fully grown trees like mine.  As invasive species, they have no natural enemies though wasps are being bred which can feed on the larvae.  The number of wasps that can be released pales in proportion to the magnitude of the infestation.  Some sources indicate that ash trees in America number in the billions, with infected ones now numbering in the millions.

For a homeowner, we typically have one or two, an expensive element of maintenance, but eventually done. Municipalities line their streets with ash trees and they are common flora of parks.  A dead infested tree can fall, so the ones lining the sidewalks that get infected can take a bite out of a town's maintenance budget.

With precautions, the wood can still be used, so the price of baseball bats or tools that use ash wood for handles should not go up, maybe even go down as forced harvesting of trees increases supply.

To my surprise, the xenophobes have not targeted this as a surreptitious Chinese invasion as they did with SARS Covid 2 or manufactured products made by low wage workers.  If our forests get enough bare spots, which they might, the rhetoric and blame for votes should emerge.

As an affected homeowner, I need to let an experienced tree specialist do what's best.  Expensive, but my credit card will add some redeemable miles to vacation in a place that has no ash trees.