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| ash killing insect threating Bats future | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:23 pm (12 Views) | |
| CinciFan985 | Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:23 pm Post #1 |
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Reds 45-57
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An Asian insect that has been destroying ash trees from the Midwest to Maryland poses a threat to the future of ash bats used by many Major Leaguers, according to a report in the April edition of Men's Journal. The emerald ash borer, a bug about the size of a small paper clip, was first discovered in Michigan in 2002 and has ravaged forests from there to Ohio, Indiana and Maryland, killing tens of millions of white ash trees, according to the report. Louisville Slugger, which produces the official bats for Major League Baseball, harvests its ash from an area along the border of Pennsylvania and New York that has remained uninfected, but the ash borers have migrated to within 100 miles of that site. "We've been harvesting wood for over 100 years," Louisville Slugger vice president Rick Redman said. "We've survived floods, fires, a lot of other issues. Now we're trying to survive insects." The beetle is native to China and eastern Asia and is believed to have arrived in North America in wood packing materials commonly used to ship consumer goods, according to Louisville Slugger's Web site. There is little chance of halting its progression, said Nature Conservancy spokesman Frank Lowenstein. Symptoms of infestation by the emerald ash borer • Distinct, D-shaped exit holes in the bark • Serpentine-shaped tunnels under the bark on the surface of the wood • Young sprout growth at the base of the tree • Unusual activity by woodpeckers • Thinning canopy of the tree • Vertical splits in the bark Courtesy Ohio Department of Agriculture "Non-native pests harm our trees in ways native insects do not," Lowenstein said. "Trees have no resistance, and predators don't feed on them, meaning they cannot be wiped out. ... Of 16 species of ash in North America, we're looking at the loss of all 16. Anywhere in the country you are looking at an ash tree, those will be gone," possibly within 30 years. The bat-maker says on its Web site that it could import ash from China, or use other woods to make bats. Maple, for example, became popular among players during the past decade, but its tendency to break into shards led MLB and the players association to institute safety measures beginning this season. "Louisville Slugger is confident that it will find alternative sources of timber for MLB bats in the event the worst-case scenario would become reality," the company said on its site. "Our company is always looking at other species of wood for potentially making baseball bats." But ash has long been a highly popular choice. "Ash is perfect for making bats," Redman said. "It's a hard wood with good grain structure, so when it breaks it doesn't explode, it just cracks. Players who migrated to maple are coming back to ash." To try to quarantine the insect, the Department of Agriculture has urged people to burn firewood only near its origin and not to transport it to other locations. |
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7:16 PM Jul 10