On Fri, 4 Jan 2019 12:25:37 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 1/3/2019 10:41 PM, John B. Slocomb wrote:

Is there any demand for ash lumber? I believe that in New England some
elm trees infected or killed by the Dutch Elm Disease are being
gobbled up by companies that specialize in making solid wood
furniture.

My understanding is that there is value in fresh ash, but that when an
ash tree dies, its value goes to zero in a year or so. Supposedly the
wood becomes too brittle.

One proposal was to harvest all the ash in this forest, paying something
like $40,000 for the privilege. It would have destroyed large patches of
the forest floor, which is famous for its wildflowers (some quite
exotic). And it would have left massive piles of branches at the site of
each tree. The public rejected that idea.

Within a year, the price of ash had fallen so low that all such ideas
were out the window. Supply had greatly exceeded demand.

It would appear that either ash wood is worthless or someone's brother
in law owns a wood saw :-) In New England, at one time, if one had
woodland one could get it cleared by doing a deal with a lumber
company to cut and clear the land for a part of the resultant lumber.

cheers,

John B.