Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
TINMOUTH — A muffled drumbeat emanated from a forest in the town of Tinmouth in May. The sound, woody and resonant, symbolized a centuries-old bond between humans and nature.
The noises were produced by 15 people striking black ash tree trunks with rubber mallets. They were part of a workshop organized by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
Over the two-day workshop, participants were invited to take part in “pounding” the ash trees, a traditional technique used for basket making. The pressure of the mallets causes the trees’ annual growth rings to separate, creating thin, flexible strips that can be pulled off and used for weaving.
An air of solemn appreciation hung over the gatherers as they handled the ash. The trees have been fighting a losing battle with the invasive emerald ash borer, a shiny, bullet-shaped green beetle whose larvae feed on the trees’ nutrients, since its introduction to the United States in 1990. The beetle was likely brought to the states on ships carrying wood packing materials from its native habitat in Eastern Asia.
Since then, emerald ash borers have spread throughout the country, finding their way to Vermont in 2018.
The disappearance of ash trees as a result of emerald ash borer is unavoidable, said Noah Hoffman, invasive species coordinator for the parks department.
“We’re talking about 99% complete mortality of ash trees,” Hoffman said. Compared to other invasive pests, emerald ash borer is extremely successful in killing its hosts, he said.
The imminent loss of ash trees brought the workshoppers together under a collective understanding that the trees should be honored before they’re gone. Vermont’s three native species of ash trees – black, green and white – are all under threat.
In particular, the event’s instructor, Kerry Wood, spoke of her special personal and cultural relationship with ash trees.
“Black ash shaped a whole new perspective for me,” said Wood, who at 50, learned that she had Abenaki heritage on her father’s side. Since then, she’s been mastering the art of basketmaking – a craft that allows her to connect deeply with her heritage.
Black ash trees are an essential part of Abenaki history. In the tribe’s creation story, people are born from the tree. Its wood has also been used throughout the tribe’s existence for woven materials like baskets.
“The ash tree is a sibling,” said Wood as she split a strip of peeled ash. “If I look at this as a family member, I’m going to treat it very differently than if I see it as a commodity.”
It takes Wood between six and seven hours to weave a small two-by-three-inch basket out of the tree’s fibers. The process of creating her art is intimate and requires five steps: growing the tree, pounding, splitting, thinning, and weaving.
“It’s such a precious resource, I don’t want to waste any of it,” said Wood. The wood shavings from thinning the strips make the perfect firewood, she said.
Tree experts like Hoffman and Joanne Garton, technical assistance coordinator for Vermont Community and Urban Forestry, were also present at the workshop. They commented on the ecological importance of ash trees in forested and urban environments.
Because ash trees typically grow in nutrient-rich soils, said Hoffman, “The ash leaves are some of the most nutrient-rich leaves… so they actually contribute to that cycle of richness when they drop their leaf litter.”
Garton said that black ash has an “amazing ability to suck up water like straws,” helping with flood mitigation and water table regulation. She also mentioned possible symbiotic relationships with other biota, like the mound-building swamp ant, as cited in a study by the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club.
In urban environments, green and white ash trees are valued because of their tolerance of harsh city conditions like high heat and limited space. Along with other urban trees, they are beneficial to human health – filtering air pollution, providing shade, and mitigating runoff.
“Urban forestry is how people are connected to trees,” said Garton as she recalled taking cover under an urban linden tree during a rainstorm. “I’d love to get to the point where people no longer see trees as ‘extras.’”
In the city of Burlington, ash trees made up almost 10% of the total inventory. That would mean losing more than 1,000 trees.
Luckily, VJ Comai, Burlington City arborist, has prepared for the impacts of emerald ash borer since he started his position about seven years ago.
“We started six years ago on a very ambitious tree planting campaign in the city,” Comai said. Though emerald ash borer wasn’t detected in Burlington until July of 2024, six years after it was first detected in Vermont, they wanted to be prepared to maintain the city’s urban forest.
“We’ve used our inventory software system to identify where all of our ash are, and wherever we felt there was space to accommodate it, we’ve been planting new trees adjacent to our ash,” Comai said. That way, when the ash trees do come down, there will already be a new tree planted there.
Proactive tree removal and replanting is one solution to the emerald ash borers’ impact. Residents can also choose to treat their ash trees with insecticide, which can protect them from the insect if applied once every two years.
Additionally, Vermont’s parks department has started using biocontrol, a technique that releases other USDA-approved insects to exclusively feed on the emerald ash borer and reduce its populations.
Despite these efforts, Hoffman said, it’s unlikely that ash will make a comeback in the near future.
“We won’t have ash like we have on the landscape right now – we won’t retain that level of 5% ash trees – but we will protect a few of them and that’s part of our mission,” Hoffman said.
From providing shelter to bridging cultural connections to recycling nutrients, ash trees will be missed, which is even more reason for Vermonters to pay homage to ash trees that may have made an impact in their lives.
“Black ash doesn’t belong to the Abenaki people – it’s a part of all of our homeland,” Wood said.