Letter To The Editor – EAB Up Close And Personal

To the Editor:
After traveling through central, northern Ohio to visit my father, I can tell you that the EAB, or emerald ash borer beetle, is very real. The amount of damage to the ash tree population was visible from the Rochester area of NY to my destination, Findlay Ohio.  In Findlay, the effect was so acute that literally every ash tree was either dead or dying.
If you don’t know what an ash tree is I suggest you learn to appreciate them before they are gone. I am sorry to sound like we humans have lost this battle, but being a person with some knowledge of the woody plants of North America and being aware that we humans have rarely if ever defeated the course of even one species of insect, I am despairing.  In Ohio the view of the forested areas I passed were approximately 20% dead trees.
The ash genus, Fraxinus, has largely two species in our area. Green and white, and to add some minor detail to the fine article in this paper weeks ago, you will recognize the white ash in the fall with its very subtle lavender fall color, almost purple. Green ash, especially to us country folk, is known for its ability to be burned as a fine firewood right off the stump. In other words it burns well without being seasoned. It looks like we may have plenty of firewood for the coming generation.
I write this letter to bring awareness to what I have just seen. I don’t know if there’s any way to stop the bug. Hopefully the Asian wasps they intend to release may help. Hopefully they don’t decide our ladybugs taste better than the EAB.  DON’T MOVE FIREWOOD,  yes, definitely, but this only slows the infestation. Do we have an acceptable offensive strategy?  I hope so; let us try.
David A. Sutton
West Hoosick