[Terry, NJ]

I'm afraid that the Asian Ash borer will do to the Ash species what the Chestnut blight did to Chestnut trees about 1910, that is, render it all most extinct! These trees were huge and productive. Trees with a diameter of 5' were not uncommon. Today, they're just about all gone. Fortunately, The Chestnut is making a very limited comeback. In the Jackson, Freehold , Howell areas of NJ old Chestnut roots are found in the woods. These old rootstocks will throw up saplings and support them till they get to be about two inches in diameter. The blight then kills the sapling but the roots then start the process again. We found similar trees in the Shenandoah Valley of Va.I used to know of a tree about 1 ft in Dia. that had reached sexual maturity and I was able to see these magnificent trees in full bloom. They are totally white, flowers are everywhere. I thought the tree might have developed some kind of resistance to the blight, but no, it succumbed after two or three years. However, I was able to give my Dad a sight he had not seen in a long while. Rutgers Univ. has a restoration program going on but I don't know where they are with it. Just as aside, A friend knew someone who had one very close to an asian Chestnut , that was doing well. We surmised that the Chinese tree was providing resistance to the American tree.
Terry