My thoughts...
Well, I agree with you, TreeVet, "Contained" is misleading. From my days in fire fighting, a contained fire was still wrecking havoc on structure, forest, or prairie, but its scope was now limited, and barring the unexpected, all would be managed.
I think that all communities where the EAB could reach need to accept the inevitable, and begin "pain management" as is offered for terminal cancer patients. I'm not an arborist in any sense, but it seems that the best option is to divert funds from treating, to replacing. Maybe a municipality with ash lined streets could plant other species between them, and when the inevitable happens (in 5-10 years or so for much of Wisconsin), some semi-mature trees will be started, and the clear cutting that happens won't just be replaced with twigs. It is more complex than that, I know.
For areas like parks, and civic structures, it may make sense to treat the ash there, until replacement trees have been well established, so that public amenities, and places are not decimated all at once. A good landscape architect could plan for the eventual removal of all ash trees, but over a period of time.
I think the forests are going to be hit hard here... I have a friend with forests that are in his estimation, 40 to 60 percent ash. The whole character, understory, etc, is going to change. He will, however, not have to decide if he needs to cut live trees for heating two years out. Firewood will abound.
I worry about the character of the ash line streets... Everything from peoples shade plants to airconditioning bills will be affected with the loss of all the ash around here. Much of the ash planted here was a replacement for Elm trees lost to Dutch Elm disease years ago. Here we go again.
I don't think, however, that the devastation will be on the level of Jared Diamond's writing... where civilizations disappeared when the trees went away.
I have come to terms with the idea that life will be a bit different than the first (ahem) years of my life... EAB and thousand cankers disease; Muscle cars; rotary phones; East Germany; etc...The only thing constant is change.
I hope something good can come of this... maybe the municipalities can salvage the ash trees, and make park benches with planks milled from the logs... assembled by boy scouts, senior groups, or unemployed parties who want to still be contributing citizens (they can carve their name in the bench first). Extraordinary logs could be used to make conference tables, etc. (I do some wood working, and have an Alaskan mill for such things)
All in all, there is a time and place, and the EAB's time and and place seems to be here, now. Maybe this is just a reminder about our own fragility. I wish it wasn't so, but I've enjoyed the ash trees, actually, since I was young. (And Hickory, Sycamore, and Black Walnut)
To hopefully invoke the "Fair Use Act" to quote a favorite zen story:
Ikkyu, the Zen master, was very clever even as a boy. His teacher had a precious teacup, a rare antique. Ikkyu happened to break this cup and was greatly perplexed.
Hearing the footsteps of his teacher, he held the pieces of the cup behind him. When the master appeared, Ikkyu asked: "Why do people have to die?"
"This is natural," explained the older man. "Everything has to die and has just so long to live."
Ikkyu, producing the shattered cup, added: "It was time for your cup to die."
