The white ash tree, a cultural icon and a valuable source of timber, is on the path to destruction in New York and the rest of North America. A tiny green beetle from Asia, the emerald ash borer, has devastated the forests of the "lake states" in just a few years and is now at work in Pennsylvania and New York. This impending tragedy touches New Yorkers on several fronts — political, economic and scientific.
The political fallout will come from failure to recognize the importance of the white ash as an integral part of baseball, the nation's major sport, and from indifference to the economic value of the ash factory to smaller towns and much of rural New York. Past government policy allowed several major tree species to be lost from America's forests.
Government and science are at the core of a workable solution. Small populations of white ash are to be immunized until the ash borer is brought under control. A sure strategy would preserve breeding stock with genetic diversity in a range of habitats.
Small parcels (stands) of ash, from seedlings to seed trees, are treated to repel insect attack. A systemic insecticide that can be fed to the roots of the ash would be the ideal. Protected stands of trees may remain in private hands but under state supervision.
Development of a biological control should proceed. But as the U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered a half century ago, biological control is only partially successful. Plant immunity mechanisms are also necessary. When not present as is usual against foreign imports, introduced chemicals become a necessary stopgap.
Ray Stross
Loudonville