This is why we build our furniture from Ash

In 2002, in a suburb of Detroit, MI the first signs of the Emerald Ash Borer were spotted. Unknown at the time, it would become ground zero for one of the most devastating ecological disasters in history. 

Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) arrived in the United States on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia. An invasive species, it has no natural predators thus allowing it to spread and infest at will. Emerald ash borer threatens the entire North American Ash forest. It has killed tens of millions of ash trees so far and threatens to kill most of the 8.7 billion ash trees throughout North America. 

In the last 20 years EAB has spread to over 36 states, including every county in our home state of Pennsylvania, namesake for the Green Ash species (Fraxinus Pennsylvanica).  Unlike many other wood boring beetles, EAB aggressively kills healthy and stressed trees; many dying within two to three years after becoming infested. The impact on ash in North America has been compared to the effects of Chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease, which devastated rural and urban forests in the 20th century. 

We at Black Monarch have seen the effects of this first hand. Over 99% of the logs our lumber is sourced from has signs of EAB damage. Rest assured, the Emerald Ash Borer adults and larvae cannot survive the cutting and kiln drying process our material goes through before it is made into furniture. However, signs of scarring may be present in the final product. 

It all goes back to the cycle of life in the forest. Birth, life, death and returning to the Earth to feed the next generation. But, this cycle has been interrupted; interrupted by an invader who is causing an untimely death. We hope to play a small part in the new lifecycle, one where fallen trees normally destined for the chipper or firewood, can be reborn into works that will live on with families for generations.