Ash Seed Collection on the Allegheny National Forest

Ash trees are threatened by the emerald ash borer (EAB), an exotic wood boring beetle native to Asia that attacks all species of North American ash trees. Since 2002, the EAB has caused the mortality of an estimated 50 million ash trees in the United States and Canada. With no effective landscape scale treatment options for EAB, a near total loss of ash trees across their range is anticipated.

Seed collection for long-term storage is one way to ensure the future restoration of the ash tree. As the trees decline it is going to become harder to collect viable seed. Ash seed is currently in abundance across the Allegheny National Forest (ANF); let’s take advantage of this opportunity to preserve the ash species

EAB exit holes in bark.

The ANF is looking for volunteers to assist in the collection of ash seed throughout the forest. An ash seed collection workshop is being held on Saturday, September 12, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Buckaloons Campground, located near the intersection of State Route 6 and State Route 62, east of Irvine, PA. At the workshop, hosted by the U.S. Forest Service and the Mid-Atlantic Seed Bank, participants will learn about the different species of ash, various methods of seed collection and the importance of collecting seed from multiple eco-regions.

A flyer and press release has been posted to the Friends of Allegheny Wilderness Facebook page.  For those that are interested click here.

Penn State also has some great fact sheets on EAB if you are interested in learning more about this invasive insect and what you can do to treat individual trees.

And, here is a very helpful web site put out by Purdue University entitled Protecting Ash Trees with insecticides.