Emerald Ash Borer in the WMNF

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peakbagger

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Well its been creeping up for years but looks like its potentially in the Maine side of the WMNF.
https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news...cle_1d7364d4-0fde-11ec-8fd5-87180dfdb042.html

Folks in the midwest where Ash Trees were a dominant tree type have gone through the rapid loss of ash forests. Up in the WMNF, ash is an important component of the forest but its pretty rare to find it as the dominant type in a stand. It is a handy indicator of potential water sources. As a old time forester told me once, "ash likes to keep its feet wet". If I see ash growing in a hardwood stand its usually in the low points and by following it downslope there is good chance of a spring nearby. Because it like to grow near streams, it frequently is within the buffer left by loggers around water sources and they can grow quite large without being harvested. There is no commercial treatment, if landowners have ash trees on their land the advice is get it cut as soon as the EAB is nearby and get some value out of it. There is a demand for the wood, a lot consumer grade "oak" furniture is actually ash. Its a lot easier to work with than oak. Once the EAB gets to it, its turns into firewood quickly. There are treatments for single and ornamental trees but its not practical for forest stands. Once the EAB moves in they kill the trees quickly and ash tends to rot standing so they become hazard trees quickly. My guess is they will move up the river valleys into the whites. EAB is in Southern VT, southern NH and Western Maine so it was just a matter to time before it moved into the whites.
 
This is the first year that i've noticed lots of ash kill at my property in NE Massachusetts. We have lots of ash here. This is the reason, i believe, for Maine's ban , starting several years ago, on out of state firewood being brought in, correct?
 
This is the first year that i've noticed lots of ash kill at my property in NE Massachusetts. We have lots of ash here. This is the reason, i believe, for Maine's ban , starting several years ago, on out of state firewood being brought in, correct?

Probably the Asian Long-horned Beetle as well. They have decimated the maples in the area around Worcester.
 
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There are several invasives Maine was hoping to delay with the firewood ban. Its almost impossible to enforce with the volume of traffic heading into the state. The EAB is also crossed over the border into Northern Maine from New Brunswick. NH reportedly had an invasive come into the state despite a ban into the area near the NH motor speedway which was suspected of coming in with firewood brought in from out of state to car race.
 
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