An invasive beetle is a huge issue for lumber workers in the Southern Tier. Businesses like The Cooperstown Bat Company are threatened by the Emerald Ash Borer.

"Ash has been such an important wood for baseball bats for centuries, or for a century. Eighteen eighties," said Cooperstown Bat Company President, Tim Haney.

Now, that same wood is threatened by the Emerald Ash Borer. An invasive beetle, originally from China. 

"Our ash trees are an easy target. They don't have any defense mechanisms set up to fight off an infestation. So the beetle can reproduce prolifically," said Forester, Joe Sweeney.

Right now the beetle is contained to Unadilla Valley, but that can change.

"A generation of beetles can move a mile at a time from their host tree. So, since 2013 it hasn't gone too far. But that just means it hasn't been reported outside the town of Unadilla," said Sweeney.

Now Senator Chuck Schumer wants to use federal money to research how to get rid of the Ash Borer.

"If they find better treatment, then great. The research could be for treatment, it could be for prevention and it could be to just find a way to kill the ash borer without killing everything else," said Schumer.

More than 95 percent of the bats held in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame are made from Ash wood. Schumer hopes to get tens of millions of dollars in funding toward the project.