Sprague has completed the removal of ash trees that were dead, dying or doomed around Baltic Reservoir.

Conservation Commission chair Donald Boushee explained that emerald ash borers had infested many of the trees and were almost certain to infest, and kill, the rest.

The commission and the Board of Selectmen decided to harvest the trees while they were still marketable for lumber or firewood. The standing trees were auctioned off for $24,000, which is earmarked for open space preservation.

Ironically, three-quarters of the approximately 500 trees useful for lumber will be shipped to Asia, original home of the invasive bugs that killed them. The exported trees will be debarked to prevent the importation of species from the North American biome.

Almost as many trees will be sold off as firewood, though the winner of the bid, Andy Clark, owner of Essex-based Limb-It-Less Logging, says that the price of firewood has plummeted due to warm winters and the low price of heating oil.

Certified Forestry Consultant Joan Nichols of Franklin said that removing the trees effected what nature was going to do anyway, but by a more controlled and, of course, rapid means. The thinned forest will allow a new generation of maple, oak, and other local species to grow.

Unfortunately, the more open canopy will also allow invasive species, especially the already present Japanese barberry, to flourish. Boushee said that the Conservation Commission will be looking for ways to suppress the spread of invasive species.

Another reason to fell the trees is that ash tend to snap not long after they die. Standing dead ash are a danger.

For the same reason, Sprague Tree Warden David Gustafson said, the ash along Sprague roads are being taken down even if not yet dead.

After they are dead, it’s difficult and dangerous to cut them down.

Even felled ash can be dangerous. The bottoms of thick trunks can explode without warning, one more reason to not only cut but remove the trees from the public area around Baltic Reservoir.

Boushee said that the logging trails will be converted to hiking trails. Steps are already being taken to prevent abuse by off-road vehicles. The area is also under video surveillance.

Glenn Cheney lives in Hanover.