Wabanaki basketmakers work to protect ash trees from invasive beetle

Wabanaki basketmakers, scientists and government officials in Maine are working together to protect ash trees threatened by the invasive emerald ash borer, according to Inside Climate News. 

The beetle, first identified in the United States in 2002, has spread to dozens of states and can kill nearly all ash trees it infests within years. Brown ash, known as the “basket tree” among Wabanaki tribes, is central to traditional basketmaking. 

Efforts to protect ash include seed collection, selective tree cutting, insecticide treatments and the release of parasitic wasps to control beetle populations. Tribal groups are also storing harvested wood and developing nurseries to grow future trees. Organizers say combining Indigenous knowledge with scientific approaches is key to sustaining both the species and the cultural practice.