In 2007, a group of American Indians, foresters, biologists, environmentalists, university professors and federal and state employees gathered in a conference room at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse. The cause that pulled them together was the plight of the ash tree. That concern has since expanded to include citizen’s who can collect seeds in the fall for preservation.

Ash trees, also known for their strength and flexibility, are an important source of hardwood. A few of its uses include furniture, floors, boats, cabinets, tool handles, guitars, and baseball bats.  It’s also a traditional material for basket makers.

Aside from looking nice, these trees are considered vital to the health of cities because they take in gaseous air pollutants, help people conserve energy by providing shade, assist in the dispersal of storm water, and provide shelter for urban animals. Many areas replanted with ash trees when Dutch elm disease hit.

Unfortunately, the trees, which are already struggling under assaults from logging, pollution, droughts and invasive species now face the steady advancement of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a tiny iridescent green beetle that arrived in Michigan hidden in packing material used to ship cargo from Asia.

This tiny killer was discovered in 2002 and spread quickly to Ontario, Quebec, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Missouri, Virginia and New York State.

EAB lays its eggs in the bark’s crevices. The larvae bore holes into the trunks (seen above), which blocks the movement of water and nutrients slowly killing the tree, resulting in the loss of tens of millions of ash trees as they choked to death from the bug or were cut down in an effort to contain infestations.

The USDA Forest Service estimated that it could cost approximately $7 billion to state and local governments and landowners to remove and replace dead and dying ash trees in urban and suburban areas over the next 25 years.

Regulatory agencies and the USDA enforced quarantines and fines to prevent ash trees, logs or hardwood firewood from moving out of areas where EAB has been seen. Biological warfare was declared when the USDA released hundreds of Chinese wasps, each no larger than a sesame seed and host-specific to the EAB. Purple traps, a color EAB is attracted to, were hung across regions to capture the beetle and detect its presence. And still the bug keeps spreading.

The black ash, called ehsa in Mohawk, is valued by the original people of the land for its bark and leaves that treat fever, kidney and urinary infections. Baskets woven from strips of its wood continue to be a part of the Mohawk ceremonial language used in baskets for birth, marriage, work and death’s journey back to the Sky World. Knowledge about selecting quality logs for weaving hampers and baskets has been passed through ancestors stretching back hundreds of generations.

As the black ash began to disappear back in 1990 the Mohawk Community of Akwesasne, NY and the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment (ATFE) began to look for ways to restore the black ash trees. ATFE partnered with the Mohawk Council’s Forest Program and collected seeds. Among the helpers, Les Benedict, assistant director to the Mohawk Council’s Department of Environment, and Richard David, Mi’qmac, on the Canadian side working with the Mohawk Council were already going out together and collecting seeds to bring back to the community. They searched out seeds through Canada, traveled in winds and rains to find seeds, carried their ladders, tarps and pruning poles in New York and to Minnesota. Today, their efforts are seen in the 100,000 saplings planted in many communities.

They thought they were done. Now, because of EAB, they continue again and hope others will be trained to identify and gather the seeds.

The Mohawk joined the partnership with ESF to further initiatives to expand stands of black ash through studies of its best habitat for growth, as well as preserving other culturally and medicinally important plants growing with it. Wood-crafters have discovered that black ash trees from different regions also have different properties and one of the goals of the conference was to establish an inventory of what types are found where, to fit varying needs and aid in planting more.

The efforts range from seed collection and field studies to efforts by graduate students and academics to studying various aspects of black ash and developing long-term working relationships and partnerships with other agencies for technical resources, management, greenhouse culture, new plantings and storage of seeds in facilities that will preserve them for 100 years. 

If you want to get involved in these efforts, check out the The National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation and the The National Seed Laboratory. Also check out the Emerald Ash Borer’s website for information on locations and identification.