As the emerald ash borer moves through the Northeast, help is needed to support the resilience of forested ecosystems and basketmaking as a Wabanaki cultural lifeway. Through monitoring for signs and symptoms of the emerald ash borer and sharing information on healthy ash trees in your area, you could help preserve ash trees into the future. Join the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik (APCAW), the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), and the Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) program at the Ecological Research Institute to practice short and long term monitoring protocols and learn how to contribute data from your own community to a broad community science effort. Land trust or conservation staff, conservation volunteers, citizen scientists, and private landowners are encouraged to join. This day of action will consist of morning and afternoon sessions:

Morning session: 8:30 - 12:00 Ash Inventory and EAB Monitoring with APCAW and GMRI. In this session, we will:

learn about collaborative efforts to preserve ash trees on the Northeastern landscape
learn how to find ash trees using google maps and habitat characteristics
practice identifying ash trees, signs and symptoms of emerald ash borer, potential seed trees, and collecting additional field site data
contribute data directly to Protecting Ash: A Preservation Focused Inventory Project

Afternoon session: 1:00 - 4:00pm Lingering Ash and Monitoring Plots with the Ecological Research Institute’s Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) program. In this session, we will learn:

how finding and gathering material from naturally occurring ash with partial EAB resistance (“lingering ash”) can enable breeding of EAB resistant trees
how to use MaMA’s “action maps” to see where and when to search for lingering ash · how to establish monitoring plots and contribute data to the MaMA Monitoring Plots Network
how to incorporate lingering tree detection into ash management

In both sessions, we will share share resources to take back to your community and build connections across a broad network of land stewards, scientists, community members, and basketmakers that will support action to protect ash across the region.

Register for just the morning session, the afternoon, or dedicate the full day to protecting ash! Lunch will be provided to those who attend the full day.

Reach out to Meggie at mharvey@gmri.org with questions about this training.

Action for Ash Day: Inventory and Long-term Monitoring Plots Training