Your Ash Trees Are On Their Way Out and SOON

How an invasive insect is lowering your timbe value.

Back in the summer of 2002, a wood shipment from Asia arrived in southeastern Michigan. Unbeknownst to the international traders, a group of beetles had lived in the wood shipment. These non-native invasive insects to America are called Emerald Ash Borers. The small shiny green beetle has an interesting life cycle that is very destructive to eastern American ecosystems.

The beetle seeks out only ash trees and drills into them leaving a small "D" shaped hole. Within the ash tree, the Emerald Ash Borer or EAB eats the soft cambium just beneath the bark. The cambium of a trees transports the nutrients up and down the trunk of the tree to create growth or to prepare the tree for winter. The EAB eats until it reproduces within the damaged tree. The offspring will then hatch and sustain themselves within the tree by eating it until maturity. Once maturity hits, they fly out the "D" shaped hole to repeat the process on a neighboring ash tree.

It is reported that over 100 million ash trees in America have been lost. University of Kentucky White Paper projected in 2019 landowners and forest industries lost $100 million annually in Kentucky. Ash species make up on average 5% of our mixed deciduous in this state. This is an average for the state, as for stands of timber ash can make up 1%-45% depending on the location. Throughout the 22 years of this economic and ecological disaster, no reasonable or affordable cure has been made. Do not let your investment rot, talk to a forestry consultant and find what's best for you and the land.

Eli Moore

Forestry Consultant

1/9/2024