The seasonal Oregon ash swales at Rogue River Preserve are full of water now, their pools host singing chorus frogs and swimming long-toed salamanders. These trees also represent wildlife havens. Oregon ash fruits (winged structures shaped like canoe paddles) are eaten by squirrels, rodents, finches, Evening Grosbeaks, and Wood Ducks. Butterfly caterpillars, like the two-tailed swallowtail, feed on the leaves, and deer and elk browse the twigs and leafy shoots. Birds and bats nest in the trunks, Red-breasted Sapsuckers drill the wood for sap, and beavers harvest the trees for constructing dams. Oregon ash is also important to Native peoples for medicine, basketry, and canoe paddles, among many other uses.
Our native ash is threatened by the nonnative emerald ash borer so please do not move firewood or wood chips from one region to another. To learn more about the emerald ash borer, how to identify Oregon ash trees and the signs of the ash borer, and how to report possible infestations: Ash Borer Resources
