Crow’s Nest: More ash tree removals

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

It may look like a scene of destruction at the moment, but we’re basically at the end of an effort to remove ash trees along our road frontage in an effort to manage the hazard that these trees become as they are dying from Emerald Ash Borer.

You can see the signs of the borer in the trunks as woodpeckers excavate to get to the insect larvae. Ash trees all over the preserve are dying or dead and become brittle as they decline. We started this effort before EAB was found in this region, knowing that its arrival had become inevitable. After many years, we are almost finished the work which involved removing more than 230 trees.

A few of them we’ve been watching for years as they declined from other causes; this one we knew was hollow, just not quite that hollow. You can see a photo of this tree in this post from last year, already showing extensive dieback in the canopy. You can also find there a map showing how we’re tracking progress on this project.

We’re very sad about the loss, but we’ve also already begun replanting with a diversity of other species.