Oregon Ash Seed Collection Workshop - Virtual

August 14, 2025 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Event: Oregon Ash Seed Collection Workshop

Date: Thursday, August 14, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m

Fill in Registration Form here

Description:

Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia), an ecologically important West Coast species will likely become extinct in much of its range due to invasion of the aggressive non-native emerald ash borer (EAB). An effort is underway to find genetic resistance to EAB to ensure Oregon ash remains a component of forests in the West. However, resistance to this fatal insect pest is very rare. A volunteer community effort is needed to help out with collecting Oregon ash seeds throughout its western range.

The USDA Forest Service and Oregon State University are leading the effort together with other agencies and are seeking volunteers in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California to collect Oregon ash seeds this fall and send them off to the lab for genetic research. A virtual workshop on the seed collection & shipping protocols will be held in mid-August on Thursday, August 14, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. This workshop will cover how to gather seeds from your area and prepare them for shipment.

Collected seeds will be shipped to USDA Forest Service Dorena Genetics Resource Center in Cottage Grove, OR. Researchers will store a portion of the seeds to preserve the genetic diversity of the species for possible future hybridizing, and plant out other batches of seeds to test for resistance to emerald ash borer. This project builds on an earlier seed collection effort undertaken by the Oregon Department of Forestry prior to EAB’s arrival in the Pacific Northwest. That effort collected nearly a million seeds from populations all over western Oregon! This effort aims to get even more seeds from a broader region spanning the trees range from Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.