These were some of the most common trees around until this damn bugs got here. The emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis) is an invasive beetle from Asia that infests and kills North American ash species (Fraxinus sp.) including green, white, black and blue ash. All of New York's native ash trees are susceptible to EAB.
Same thing happened where I'm from, Illinois, a decade ago or so. They were basically all wiped out.
However the past few times I've visited I've actually noticed both young ash trees and old "dead" trees that had been cut down to the stump with new growth.
It makes me wonder if there'll be new a balance struck where there will be ash trees, and there will be ash borer, just fewer of each.
They're also rampant around the SF bay area; they mostly leave the native trees alone, but I'm staring at a massive dead pine tree that was healthy a few years ago.
The damage in the article looks different though. Our beetles seem to focus on a ring of bark near the ground, so they don't have to eat nearly as much to kill the tree.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7253.html
These were some of the most common trees around until this damn bugs got here. The emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis) is an invasive beetle from Asia that infests and kills North American ash species (Fraxinus sp.) including green, white, black and blue ash. All of New York's native ash trees are susceptible to EAB.