This is the cover of my first book, Venerable Trees. The book designer did a wonderful job, selecting this picture from several dozen that I provided.

This is a large blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangulata, in a grove of very old woodland pasture trees in Ashland, the estate created by Henry Clay and named for the most abundant tree on the property. Today, over 200 years later, many of the trees that Clay appreciated still exist.

I have a very personal relationship with blue ash. I had never seen one until I came to Kentucky, and I was drawn to them for their size, form, and beauty. I realized that these trees occurred in groves, and that sparked my interest in woodland pastures, which became the subject of the book.

When the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, began killing ash trees in the Bluegrass, I began surveying blue ash groves, fearing the worst. As the white ash and green ash trees began dying, I was thrilled that the blue ash trees were not being attacked. There were some exceptions: trees that had been damaged by mowers or horses were attacked and a few died. Fewer than 10% of the blue ash trees succumbed to the emerald ash borer.

At the time, my grad student Jim Dunn and I were studying the two-lined chestnut borer, Agrilus bilineatus, which attacks and kills stressed oaks but leaves healthy oaks alone. The parallels between attacks on the two trees are striking.

I have continued to survey blue ash trees on properties where I work, and have seen very little mortality. Blue ash will survive.

Every time I see the cover of my book, I am reminded of the importance of the work we do, and of the beauty and power of blue ash. I hope that the cover of my next book is as meaningful.