Smokey House Center Seeds Change in Preparation for Emerald Ash Borer

Danby, VT – When Emerald Ash Borer was detected in Danby in 2025, Smokey House Center staff knew it wouldn’t be long before the insect wreaked havoc on the 4000 acres of conserved forest. In previous infestations, Emerald Ash Borer has led to 95% mortality of ash trees within three to five years of first detection. 

Emerald Ash borer is an insect native to East Asia whose larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees. While ash species native to Asia had thousands of years to co-evolve with the insect and develop resistance to this threat, the three ash species found in Vermont, white, green and black/brown ash have almost no defenses.

EAB was first introduced to the US in 2002 in the Detroit area and has been spreading throughout the range of ash trees ever since. Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation’s Urban and Community Forestry program reports that fifty six percent of municipalities in Vermont have at least one confirmed EAB detection in 2025 and that ninety percent of municipalities are within 10 miles or less of at least one confirmed EAB detection. Within a few years, there will likely be Emerald Ash Borer throughout the state. Many people have probably noticed the numbers of dead trees along roads and in the woods, and the infestation is still in its early stages. 

“The statistics can be shocking, but there is room for hope,” says Rose Gellman, Forest Programs Coordinator at Smokey House Center.  “With a landscape-level threat, we need to apply a wide range of conservation strategies.” At Smokey House Center, these strategies include silvicultural regeneration treatments, a preservation patch with insecticide-treated trees, and lingering ash monitoring.

One key strategy is seed collection. While there are still thousands of living ash trees on our landscape, ash conservationists have the opportunity to collect and store seeds. “Now is a critical moment for seed collection in Vermont” says Gellman. “If we want to have locally adapted genetic material to use for resistance breeding and restoration efforts in the future, now is the time to collect it.” 

A $15,000 grant from the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Research Initiative for the Vermont Economy (STRIVE) program is funding the launch of Smokey House Center’s seed collection effort in Southern Vermont and beyond.  Smokey House Center is partnering with regional organizations including Ash Protection Across Waponahkik, Intervale Center, Vermont Department of Forests Parks and Recreation, Ecological Research Institute, Vermont Land Trust, Forest Stewards Guild, and NorthWoods Stewardship Center to offer seed collection training and collection kits to the interested public. Upcoming events include a full-day stewardship training on April 27th and seed collection demonstrations (dates TBA) in August and September. For more information on the April workshop please visit, https://www.smokeyhouse.org/event-details/ash-conservation-gathering.