Ohio State Receives $1.4 M Grant for Development of Resistant Ash Tree

Although it's too late for the lovely graceful ash trees we have now on our condo grounds and the grounds at Lakeside, Ohio, this is indeed good news--if it works. Can't be too soon. . .

Scientists with Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) have received a three-year, $1.4 million grant to continue their groundbreaking work toward the development of a tree that can be used for preservation of ash in natural and urban forests. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) provided the funds.

Ohio State Receives $1.4 M Grant for Development of Resistant Ash Tree — Ohio State University Extension

Treating the Emerald Ash Borer

Emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. It's now in Ohio and most of the midwest and lower Canada. It's not a pretty picture. We have some here in Lakeside. I was watching the tree trimmers work on a tree that was damaged in the storm late in June--and either they are leaving a 50 ft. tall stump, or they are hoping there will be new growth.

I attended a program on Lakeside's trees about two weeks ago, and heard there is a treatment for this pest. It reminds me of Obama's stimulus plan. It costs way more than anyone can afford, lasts only a short time, and then you are left with a sick, damaged, but alive tree, which is why most states and municipalities are choosing not to treat, but to start over with another type of tree.