Once an abundant resource in northwestern Pennsylvania, the white ash tree is virtually disappearing and taking the region’s baseball bat manufacturing industry with it, writes Frank Fitzpatrick for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The white ash tree, which is facing a similar fate nationwide, has been essential in the production of most of the nation’s baseball bats for more than a century.

But now, it is being decimated by a disease from the emerald ash borer. The bug, which has already invaded Ohio and Michigan, is now infesting local forests. This is forcing landowners to cut their ash trees and bring them to mill before they become worthless.

This means that white ash bats from Pennsylvania and New York, a mainstay in baseball since 1880, could soon disappear from the Major Leagues. This year, the Akeley Mill will only produce around 10,000 white ash billets for MLB bats, down from 50,000 in 2010, with no end in sight.

“It’s getting worse and worse and worse,” said Larimer & Norton Mill general manager Brian Boltz. “For the last two or three years, they’ve been going in and cutting all their ash trees.”

Read more about the white ash’s tree’s decline in the Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.