Ash Borer Questions

The idea is to diminish the EAB infestation. If your trees are infected, they will die within a few years of infestation. The trees should be harvested at the first sign of decline. to try to minimize the spread of this pest. If your ash trees are healthy but take up more than about 15% of your tree population, you should thin them out to keep the danger of infestation to a minimum. The EAB ONLY eats ash trees, thank goodness! So my opinion is yes, work on the ash first.

They make an attractant "trap" for EAB that will tell you if trees in the area have been affected within a 1/4 mile radius.
I think they are pretty cheap, and look more like a bird house. The town I live in has invested in about 2 dozen of them to see if the insect has hit our trees yet.

Michigan has pretty much been nuked by the dirty little bugs. I have been working on all the ash I have on the property that is standing dead but because it is ALL dead. I think I will leave some standing for another year depending on how ambitious I get.

On a serious note - if it is standing dead or stacked neatly in rows is the danger of infestation to existing live trees any less threatened? Do the bugs go away as soon as the tree is a goner?

This stack is 3 rows deep and 7 pallets long and I have at least this much down and bucked ready to stack as soon as my friend gets me another load of pallets. There is at least twice this much still standing and at least 95% of the pile is ash killed by the bug.

BobUrban said:

Michigan has pretty much been nuked by the dirty little bugs. I have been working on all the ash I have on the property that is standing dead but because it is ALL dead. I think I will leave some standing for another year depending on how ambitious I get.

On a serious note - if it is standing dead or stacked neatly in rows is the danger of infestation to existing live trees any less threatened? Do the bugs go away as soon as the tree is a goner?

This stack is 3 rows deep and 7 pallets long and I have at least this much down and bucked ready to stack as soon as my friend gets me another load of pallets. There is at least twice this much still standing and at least 95% of the pile is ash killed by the bug.

Click to expand...

Apparently they are alive, otherwise there would be no concern about moving firewood. Guess you had better toast the little suckers soon!!

I read about a pesticide last year online that you apply at the base of the tree (it may have been an injection?) If you have a large population of ash and you want them to survive the EAB epidemic you may want to at least look into his option. If I find that page I will share it on here for you to read. Here's some information on the borer.

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/

I have about 10 acres of woods that had aroun 15-20% ash trees in it. First noticed the borer about 5 or 6 years ago.
you will see spots on the trees that are light colored. Looks kinda like somthing was rubbing the tree. then in a couple years they won't leaf out. I figure I have about 2 more years of cutting before the wood is no good.

You are not going to beat Mother Nature no matter what you do. There is no reason to cut a good ash tree just because it might get the EAB. That is like saying you should not drive because you might have an accident. Watch your trees (all species) and cut them on the down side of their life if you have to! But more then likely you will have enough dead and blow overs to keep you busy!

Gary

Jack Straw said:

My woodlot is about 12 acres and Ash accounts for roughly 10-20% of the total tree count. My question is: If the Ash Borer hits hard here how long do I have to process that wood? Does it take several years for the trees to die? Can I leave the standing dead trees for a couple of years? I'm not in panic mode, but I would like to have a battle plan.
Maybe I should cut more Ash now and leave the other species for the future.
:coolsmile:
Thank you and have a great weekend!

Click to expand...

Jack, other than the D shaped holes in the bark, about the first thing you'll notice is that the outer layer of bark starts to flake off.



Here is one a bit further gone.



Another thing you'll notice is that the tree suddenly will send new suckers out. They usually start down low and will go up maybe 15'. Once you see these suckers, the tree is in the last stage.

We've been cutting mostly ash now for 4-5 years and still have not completed it. The wood is still okay for burning but some are getting pretty dried out. So far only one has tipped over and that one was almost unbelievably dry. It broke off about 2' off the ground. I got it cut up and it was dry enough that we could have put it into the stove that very day it was cut. No, I don't have a MM but do know it was super dry.

We'll be cutting ash for 1 or 2 more years here on our place and then they will be all gone. That hurts a bit and has really made a dent in our woods but what is done is done and we can not change it.

I guesstimate probably 20% of my 10 acre woods lost to the Ash Borer.My battle plan for the past 3 years is to cut all these dead trees out and process them before they become a danger by falling over and making a tangled up mess, then eventually rotting.Once all these dead trees are gone then I will do a select cull to maintain my woodlot.

Jeff S said:

I guesstimate probably 20% of my 10 acre woods lost to the Ash Borer.My battle plan for the past 3 years is to cut all these dead trees out and process them before they become a danger by falling over and making a tangled up mess, then eventually rotting.Once all these dead trees are gone then I will do a select cull to maintain my woodlot.

Click to expand...

Your lucky. Ash is about 90-95% of the trees I have on my 8 acers. Lots of firewood but a crapy looking 8 acers.

Yes I am fortunate,my wood lot is comprised of White Oak,Silver Maple,Shagbark Hickory,Basswood ,Aspen, Black Locust and of course dead Ash.My next door neighbors lot is much like yours about 90% dead Ash.

I do not have many Ash trees on my property but I have a giant that is the largest Ash tree I have ever seen. I will have to take a picture and see what you guys think. It is a shame because it is shedding the bark very badly now. It actually has 5 trunks and each trunk is over 3 feet in diameter. I imagine I will get a lot of wood out of it once I cut it, though I wish I did not have too. It does concern me a bit about cutting it because of the size of the tree and the multiple trunks, especially the end trunks with heavy lean. I have a 660 so I have the saw to handle it.

double post

I wouldn't do anything special unless (and quite likely until) you see signs of infestation. Keep a close eye on the ash then deal with the problem when it happens. The reality is that if you see any signs of infestation at all, you will lose at least 90% of your ash. I not aware that thinning has been shown to yield any positive result with respect to the ash borer.

There is an insecticide that has worked in studies, but it would be a serious amount of work and tons of money to use it on a whole woodlot. If you had a special tree or two you wanted to try to save, it'd be worth a try. Google ash borer + insecticide + Michigan to find out which one they used in the study.

Borer was first noticed on my lot in 2010. Last year, all but two (and I have around 40 large ash) didn't leaf out. I fully expect to lose every single one of them.

I don't have any ash on my property, but just a few miles from here in the lower terrain along Lake Michigan there is TONS of white ash. The EAB is just now entering Delta County on the east side along the lakeshore. Once it moves thru here theres going to be a tremendous amount of dead trees. But as you go south towards the Wisconsin line, almost 75% of all the trees in places are white ash, and a lot of them are huge. I can't even imagine how many cords of dead ash will be produced in the years ahead from this bug. Very sad indeed.

I was amazed when I heard from a forest ranger that Ash last year was going for quite a bit of money. I said, how can that be when so many have died? I guess the problem is not that bad in NY yet and I guess the Ash Borer only moves a few miles a year. I imagine in a few years it will be a rare species as most of it will be gone. Something like Chestnut Oak.

In Michigan, ash is worth way more as firewood than you could sell it for as lumber. My dad did have some lovely floorind and trim made from some of his ash. All in all, he may have made out slightly ahead of just buying it.

GolfandWoodNut said:

I was amazed when I heard from a forest ranger that Ash last year was going for quite a bit of money. I said, how can that be when so many have died? I guess the problem is not that bad in NY yet and I guess the Ash Borer only moves a few miles a year. I imagine in a few years it will be a rare species as most of it will be gone. Something like Chestnut Oak.

Click to expand...

The price is the highest I've ever seen it right now and the EAB played a part.
Transport issues and the decline in supply with decent demand = increased prices.
Most ash is used in handles, dowels,bats and hockey sticks. Stuff that hasn't been effected as much as the furniture/housing lumber market.
If it were my woodland , I wood be selling all merchantable ash now.

luckilLEE said:

If it were my woodland , I wood be selling all merchantable ash now.

Click to expand...

IF you could sell it and move it!

I know a sawmill operator who does railroad ties. They are having trouble shipping oak ties out of state.

Ken

Good, for now!

State of Maine website says we don't have it.. Yet!

I'm sticking with the advice my forester gave me. Leave the oak and ash alone.. he'll cut it again in another 10 years (it's been 5 already)

I'm pretty much convinced I can burn blow downs, and dead standing for a few years anyway. I have one border of my lot that's got white birch that are around 6 inches and smaller. The lot line has em about 15 feet wide, and 1600 feet along the line. I'm going to ask the neighbor if I can clean em out (it's an orchard, I would expect they would rather have em trimmed back then taking out their 8 foot boxwire. I think most of them are on my side anyway.

I have another lot line that's grown over. It's 2500 feet plus, and I'd like to cut a 6 or 8 foot wide trail along it. Plenty of wood along there.

JP

Ken45 said:

luckilLEE said:

If it were my woodland , I wood be selling all merchantable ash now.

Click to expand...

IF you could sell it and move it!

I know a sawmill operator who does railroad ties. They are having trouble shipping oak ties out of state.

Ken

Click to expand...

There is no oak quarantine.He's not telling you the whole story.
Even with the ash quarantine we cut,sell and transport ash logs/lumber daily. You just have to be federally certified and follow protocol.
Firewood on the other hand is regulated differently .

luckilLEE said:

Ken45 said:

luckilLEE said:

If it were my woodland , I wood be selling all merchantable ash now.

Click to expand...

IF you could sell it and move it!

I know a sawmill operator who does railroad ties. They are having trouble shipping oak ties out of state.

Ken

Click to expand...

There is no oak quarantine.He's not telling you the whole story.
Even with the ash quarantine we cut,sell and transport ash logs/lumber daily. You just have to be federally certified and follow protocol.
Firewood on the other hand is regulated differently .

Click to expand...

Very interesting Lee. I may have to figure out if I can get a small log truck of dump on my property and load it up with my skid steer. Lumber mills and Forest Rangers do not like working in my township because of all the regulations. But I believe I can cut an move small quantities my self. It would be a shame to cut up a few of these monsters I have for fire wood.

I sold mine when I found out we had the borer. There is a handle factory in hicksville OH that bought it. Still have more
than I can cut up for firewood with the tops, smaller and crooked trees they didn't want. You should be able to sell it to someone.
I would think it could go across state line since we have already been hit here.

Read an article this past year about the EAB in Massachusetts...it is hitting the maples hard...silver and suger. Supposedly likes the silver maple more than ash??? Article claimed that by the time it was realized the maple was being hit, hundreds oof thousands were involved, and that there is speculation we may eventually lose the sugar maple in the NE US and Canada....unbelievable calamity in under a century..chestnut, elm, ash, pine, now maple??? We do have quite a few elm that have survived Dutch Elm in Southern Ontario.