These bugs can be defeated by aerial spray of species-specific viral infection. But that weapon has to be designed first. In 70-ies, the USSR by such means successfully combated Lymantria dispar invasion in Siberia, which devastated pine forests on unimaginable scale. Though it took about 7 years and if memory serves, 3 research institutions to make insights into immune system of this species and make effective species-specific virus. The strain is still available.

Do you have any literature on this story?

Since this was long before the Internet, I doubt it is available on www. However quick search gives this, you can feed it to Google Translate. http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_9772.htm. Name of strain is "вирин-ЭНШ" This is final document with instruction of strain usage http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_10557.htm

Almost all of the avenue trees in my neighborhood were Ash, most around 50 years old, and they were all taken down last spring due to the borer. Limbs had been falling for years during storms, we were pretty worried about seeing significant damage due to the trees literally falling apart over our house. When they were taken down, most of the stumps were soft enough to crumble with your fingertips and the sapwood was completely webbed with borer holes.

About a month after they took the trees down, we had the worst thunderstorm in years. Lost power for three days due to dozens of uprooted (non-Ash!) trees. I can't imagine the carnage had those trees still been up.

They have effectively wiped out all Ash trees around central Ohio. Once these beautiful trees were 20 - 25% of our forest, tree lines, and even shade for parking lots. Now they are all gone. You can really notice it in areas where they haven't been removed by tree services. We have an abundance of woodpeckers now because of all of the dead standing trees around us. I wonder what they'll make baseball bats out of when the lumber supply runs out?

Louisville Slugger has started shifting to yellow birch and maple. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/baseball-bats-mad...

Maple:

http://woodbat.org/

Hickory

At the very center of my acre stands a huge green ash. I've never measured it, but I'd guesstimate 40' tall. Circumference of the trunk is, oh, maybe 15'. One of the reasons I never wanted to sell my property was the fear it would be chopped down.

It died two years ago.

I loathe invasive species.

Same in Switzerland. The local newspaper (Berner Zeitung) has an article today about how the ash trees needed to be felled in a Bernese park and removed by helicopter because of difficult topography.

The Columbian Exchange continues!

One question about the article: why do they say "technically extinct" and not just "extinct"?

I also wonder---if we get chestnuts back up to their 19th-century numbers, what species will suffer as a result? Similarly to how coyotes are suffering from the reintroduction of gray wolves. I'm fine with attempting to restore the previous equilibrium, but it's good to be aware of all the consequences.

Well, American chestnut grew on upland sites with thin soil in oak-hickory forest. Many of the surviving trees are on inaccessible mountain slopes and other places unsuitable for agriculture. After they died, the canopy space was overtaken by oak, hickory, tuliptree, and other native trees. The chestnut was so populous because it simply overwhelmed the other trees with seed production.

In terms of wildlife, there is no downside: the chestnut produces a larger mast than oak/hickory, and it produces every year instead of biennially. Its nut is starchy rather than oily. Chestnuts simply produce more food for humans and wildlife than the forest can otherwise. Its loss was simply a huge loss for the ecosystem.

Beechbark disease is another major one. IIRC about 2-5% of trees can survive it, but it's taking out stands all over the northeast through the midwest.

alas, i have one at my driveway in NJ and cross my fingers everyday.

and pour gallons of pesticide on it...