A Drive North......

Yesterday we left Port Washington and drove a bit north to Algoma. We started out along the highway and then continued along a two lane road to reach our destination. It was a beautiful day with some light rain popping up once in awhile.

As we merged onto Route 43 I quickly began to notice stands of trees that lined the road....the trees that had zero leaves. Many of these black silhouetts were bordered by trees in full leaf.

Were all of these trees dead? Were these ash trees that have been hit so hard by those beautiful emerald green invading ash borer beetles? Were they all going to come down or would some recover? While they stood out in a dramatic fashion against the sky, they didn't look "right". They looked "sad".

I know we've had a lot of ash trees taken down in Port so I realize this scourge is moving through our area.  How can such a beautiful beetle cause such destruction?

The view reminded me of the vast numbers of trees we saw in Yellowstone wiped out by mountain pine beetles.....whole mountainsides empty. Will this be Wisconsin's future? Fewer trees? A change in our landscape and a change in our area's food chain and ecology? If so, it was very evident along our drive yesterday.

Mother Nature making some adjustments but I wonder....why?