It is interesting to note that some ash is being cut in the metro area, not because it is infected by the emerald ash borer, but because it may prevent the spread of the emerald ash borer to other areas.
Seems that many species of ash trees were planted in the 1980’s to replace the thousands of elm trees killed by Dutch elm disease. At that time, the ash species’ were considered disease resistant.
Since Dutch elm disease killed most of the elm in the Midwest states, the disease was no longer considered a problem.
A year ago, the Canadian Minister of Forestry in British Columbia announced that the mountain pine beetle was no longer a problem as most of the pine in the province had been killed.
Today, about 24 percent of the harvest in B.C. is from pine beetle killed trees.
Makes me wonder if in a few years the emerald ash borer will no longer be a problem as no ash trees will be left.
While ash volumes in Minnesota are very low, it is still a valuable species for veneer and saw log production.
In 2009 the Department of Natural Resources public stumpage price review reported only 32,000 board feet of ash were cut and about 27,000 cords of pulpwood.
In Pennsylvania and upper New York, the emerald ash borer, which was discovered in 1976, poses a much more serious problem.
Ash accounts for about 10 percent of the hardwood lumber produced in the states. Baseball bats — the “Louisville Slugger” — is made from white ash from Pennsylvania and New York.
It is estimated that Pennsylvania has 300 million ash trees.
Norboard donation
Norboard Corp., headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and having an oriented strand board plant in Bemidji is donating oriented strand board to American Development Corp. to build 700 shelters in Haiti.
The shelters should last for at least three years until permanent structures can be built.
Ridlington has been a member of the Society of American Foresters for 33 years and is a media relations volunteer for the SAF.
He was an Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Commission forester in Aitkin County from 1959 to 1980 and district forester in Park Rapids for seven years.
