(Salem, OR) -- The Oregon Department of Forestry has collected 900-thousand seeds from 245 ash trees in the state that will eventually be killed by the ash borer. The invasive pest wiped out nearly all ash trees in the eastern half of the country in 10 years. A federal grant helped pay five ODF staff members to collect the seeds. They'll be sent to the National Seed Lab in Fort Collins, Colorado along with the Forest Service's Dorena Genetic Resource Center in Cottage Grove. They'll work to see whether any of the seeds has resistance against the ash borer which could help save the only species of ash that's native to Oregon.