Black ash enthusiasts convened in Hardwick and East Montpelier this fall to learn about stewardship of this unique species of tree currently impacted by an introduced insect, the emerald ash borer.

Led by Abenaki basket makers and educators Kerry Wood and Aaron Wood and hosted by Vermont Forests, Parks & Recreation's Urban & Community Forestry Program and Forest Health Program, the workshop began with an introduction to the ecology and culture of black ash trees. Black ash like to have "wet feet" -- they grow in seepage forests, wetland edges, and other seasonally or consistently wet depressions. Alive, they transmit incredible amounts of water through their ring-porous structure -- the same quality that makes splint production through pounding both possible and magical. Pounding a harvested black ash log with a small sledge hammer or axe head crushes the ring porous earlywood, freeing up the solid latewood as a splint that peels from the log.  When stored in a dry and protected location, these splints can last for hundreds of years for future generations of basket makers who will likely not see live black ash on the landscape.

Emerald ash borer threatens all species of ash in the region. Black ash are particularly susceptible to mortality from emerald ash borer and are often the first species to show signs of new infestations in an area. While some individual black ash trees can be harvested for splint pounding, basket makers are facing a glut of black ash logs and an associated bottleneck of pounding work as land managers, including State Parks, remove black ash trees near campgrounds and structures that would be damaged by falling infested ash trees. Gathering people to pound the ash logs into splints is one of many ways to steward a future for this tree, sharing both the wood itself and the stories and crafts that have grown with it for millennia.

UCF's Community Forester Joanne Garton would like to thank the Center for an Agricultural Economy (Hardwick) and Orchard Valley Waldorf School (East Montpelier) for hosting this fall's workshop series, foresters from VT Forests, Parks & Recreation who helped harvest and move black ash logs, Kerry Wood and Aaron Wood for their dedicated instruction, and all of the volunteers who came to learn, pound, and share their stories at workshops this year.