Photo by Bruce Frisch

This white ash tree at the entrance of Dennis Hill State Park shows the characteristic bark “blonding” that is a clear sign that the tree has been infected with the emerald ash borer. The blonding is caused when woodpeckers feeding on infected trees remove the outer bark to get to the larvae below and thus expose patches of light-colored bark. The emerald ash borer, an Asian insect that is responsible for the death of millions of ash trees, first showed up in America in Michigan, in 2002. Since then it has steadily been expanding its range. It was first found in Connecticut in 2012. When Dave Beers reported on the coming threat to Dennis Hill’s ash trees in Norfolk Now a year ago, the borer had not yet been officially found in Norfolk, though it was expected to arrive sometime in 2018, as it has done. The Dennis Hill ash salvage harvest, which was partially completed last winter, was shut down because of wet weather. When dry or frozen ground conditions return, the harvest will be completed.