Basket makers brace for emerald ash borer impact

Basket makers are saving every scrap of black ash they have, now that the tree is in steep decline due to the emerald ash borer.

Earlier this summer, Richard Nolan of Kahnawà:ke was forced to shutter his business, Turtle Clan Baskets. He's been making baskets for about 15 years and has taught hundreds of people his craft, but he knew this day was coming.

Nolan said he started stockpiling black ash splints from his friend and supplier years ago.

"I was going to see him once, twice, three times a month; buying as much as he could pound," he said, noting he left enough splint for other basket makers because he didn't want to be "greedy."

Ash logs are pounded and split into thin strips. The strips are then cleaned of any fibres before they can become usable splints. 

Splints are soaked to make them pliable and can then be woven into baskets. 

Arrived in shipping containers

The emerald ash borer is an invasive species with no natural predators in North America. They were first identified in North America in 2002, and it's believed they arrived in shipping containers at ports in the Great Lakes.

They are an iridescent blue-green colour, and about 8 to 14 mm long and 3 to 3.5 mm wide.

Jessica Raspitha, is the land resources program manager for the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, Environment Division. 

She said the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, which straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York state, has an area of about 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) — 10,000 of which are either forested or undeveloped.

"We've seen the spread of the emerald ash borer from one corner of the reservation ... throughout the entire territory," Raspitha said, although the exact percentage of infestation is unknown.

Twenty per cent of the forested or undeveloped lands are populated with white, green and black ash trees.

Akwesasne has been monitoring these trees since the emerald ash borer was first detected in the area in 2016, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Raspitha said the first sign a tree is infested with the emerald ash borer is called "blonding," where the bark starts to look lighter in colour. Woodpeckers eat the emerald ash larvae, removing the bark and exposing the cambium layer, which is naturally lighter in colour.

The emerald ash borer lay their eggs on the bark and when the larvae are born they burrow into the trunk and eat through the cambium layer, the vascular tissue inside the tree.

The larvae create a characteristic S-shaped pattern, meandering back and forth under the bark, affecting the health of the tree and the quality of the splint.

Eventually, when there's enough of them in the tree, it will cut off the circulation, killing the tree.

Conservation efforts

There are many conservation efforts being implemented currently. Pesticides are injected into high-value ash trees, those with valuable genetic traits. This treatment is costly, however and has only been done to 75 trees in the territory, Raspitha said.

They are tarping trees; a procedure in which the trunks are tightly girdled, which stresses the tree, causing it to emit a pheromone that attracts emerald ash borers to lay their eggs. The tree is then cut down and removed from the forest.

They are also employing silviculture techniques to create optimal growing conditions for ash trees.

The most promising of the conservation efforts is biocontrol, which includes the release of natural predators to target the invasive borer species.

Parasitoid wasps are tiny and stingless, about the size of a mosquito. They target emerald ash borers at different stages in their life cycle, keeping the population in check.  The wasp has a short life and dies before it can become a pest.

This is not the first time biocontrol has been used in Akwesasne, Raspitha noted.

About 20 years ago, a beetle was released to stem the growth of purple loosestrife, an invasive plant.

Raspitha said, so far, they haven't seen any negative impacts from the beetle and although there is still some purple loosestrife, "it's not taking over wetlands the way it used to before."

There is rigorous testing to determine the impact on other plants and bugs, and biocontrol methods need to be very specific, before they're approved for use, she said.

Parasitoid wasps are not known to impact anything other than emerald ash borer.

Angello Johnson, a seventh-generation basket maker who also works in forestry and ash tree conservation in Akwesasne, said ash seeds are also collected and sent to cold storage facilities or "doomsday vaults," like the one at Colorado State University. 

"Within the next five years, we're going to see one out of every five trees dead on the territory," he said. 

Johnson is hoping to impart his knowledge about basket-making to youth in his community.

"That way, once the trees do die and then we replant, by the time those trees are mature enough to harvest for black ash, hopefully those children that I taught will be able to teach their children or grandchildren," Johnson said.

'I'm fearful of running out of material'

Carrie Hill, of Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, owns Chill Baskets. She herself makes fancy baskets and her family relies on the ash tree's existence to support themselves.

The fancy baskets Hill makes are more delicate and decorative than the sturdier utility baskets that Nolan and Johnson make. She uses thin black ash splints, typically dyed and woven with sweet grass.

In contrast, utility baskets — like pack baskets, which are worn on the back and used for carrying large loads, longhouse baskets, which are similar to picnic baskets with a drop handle, and corn-washing baskets, which are used as a sieve for cleaning white corn — all need to be strong and are made with thicker splint.

Hill has noticed the quality of splint has deteriorated recently; splints are thinner with more knots, she said.

"I'm fearful of running out of material … I can't tell the future," Hill said. 

"I just know that my splint quality has wavered since I started making baskets."

Ash trees must be alive when the wood is split into usable splints for basket-making, said Nolan, the basket maker from Kahnawà:ke. 

Angello Johnson started pounding logs almost 20 years ago, when he was just 14, and started weaving utility baskets when he was in his 20s.

He said, when you pound the log, it separates into bundles, with each layer representing a year of growth. The layers should be smooth and healthy with a thick grain.

"The healthier the tree, the more water, sunlight, nutrients it has, the thicker the growth rings," said Johnson.

After infestation, the rings are small and tight, almost paper thin. Too brittle for basket-making. 

Working toward a collective solution

Akwesasne recently hosted an ash resources gathering on July 24-26, following a basket festival. 

Attendees included basket makers from other tribes and nations and agencies working in ash conservation and emerald ash borer mitigation from regions it has impacted across North America.

Raspitha said they're working toward a collective solution as the emerald ash borer spreads to different areas at different times, so they are able to learn from each other.

"The reality of the fact that our ash trees are impacted and getting harder to find … made for some emotional conversations about the grief that is felt in the basket-making community since the impending loss is palpable," she said.