Reclaim and Reuse EAB-infested Ash

Did you know that EAB-Infested Ash Can Be Reclaimed and Reused?

Tree-lined Chicago streets provide a picturesque image, but that image is likely to change with the recent discovery of Emerald ash borer (EAB) within city limits. Does the EAB find mean infested trees must go to the chipper? The simple answer is no.

Just as these ash trees have brought beauty to Chicago streets, they can be reclaimed and reused to create new, practical and striking creations. Some marvelous examples were recently on display at the Rising from Ashes: Furniture from Lost Trees, a traveling furniture exhibition at The Morton Arboretum that ran from August 22 – September 7.

“The show provided an opportunity to raise awareness, share with a greater audience, and bring the problems of EAB to the forefront. Through this exhibition, we hoped to show that art and beauty can be created out of wood that would otherwise be wasted,” said Anamari Dorgan, Arboretum Manager of Interpretation and Exhibits.

The exhibition, which was a joint venture between the Arboretum and the Chicago Furniture Designers Association (CFDA), emphasized the value of urban forests and the destructive effects of EAB. Some 30 pieces of furniture, created by CFDA members out of ash wood felled due to EAB infestation, were featured during this exhibition with messages focusing on the Emerald ash borer, the steps to process harvested ash trees into lumber, the furniture making process and the properties of ash and its uses.

Ash wood has excellent working properties that make it suitable for a multitude of different projects. It is generally straight-grained, with cream-colored sapwood and brown to grayish-brown heartwood. Because the Emerald ash borer does not damage or even reach the heartwood, there is no danger of spreading EAB when reclaiming infested wood. It can be used as furniture, flooring, cabinetry and sporting goods such as baseball bats. Trees not  suitable for lumber can be used to generate heat or electricity, as mulch or as wood chips.

Chicago streets contain an estimated 20 percent ash. Illinois has an estimated 131 million ash trees. Dead, damaged, diseased or otherwise unwanted urban trees could supply nearly a quarter of the annual hardwood consumed in America, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Therefore, by reclaiming and reusing trees that would otherwise be destroyed, there would be less need to remove perfectly healthy trees for lumber.

The Illinois Emerald Ash Borer Wood Utilization Team, which is chaired by Arboretum arborist and Community Trees Advocate Edith Makra, is working to facilitate the follwing four “building blocks” that will be essential for urban timber to see a new life:

1. Arborists must bring down urban trees in a manner that leaves their wood marketable, that is, in sections at least eight feet long. In conventional techniques, arborists remove trees in much shorter sections.

2. We need more local sawyers able to cut and process urban timber, which is often variable in quantity, character and availability.

3. Wood workers and others who purchase wood need to be aware that urban timber could meet their needs.

4. Consumers need to request and purchase products made of urban timber.

“Urban trees in general are treated as waste. There is valuable lumber in our landscape trees that can and should be harvested,” Makra says. 

SHARE ON...

digg

facebook

reddit

del.icio.us