Emerald Ash Borer

[Dan Cannon]

A friend of mine who knows I am getting into turning had an ash tree taken down after it was killed by Emerald Ash Borer. He asked if I wanted any of the wood. Does anyone know if it is ok to take the wood, or should I steer clear because of the disease/bugs?
Thanks,
Dan

[Ryan Baker]

The wood is fine if your local government will let you have it. The Emerald Ash Borer only gets into the outer surface of the tree, just under the bark. They do their damage and then fly off -- they have probably been gone from the tree for a long time already. Once you cut off the surface layer, the rest of the wood is great. Many cities, however, are making rules that all of it must be chipped and burned, because they don't understand it and don't want to deal with it.

[George Guadiane]

As I understand it, the wood cannot be taken across state lines, and in some cases, not from one county to another in some states...
My QUICK reading of one document suggests that finished kiln dried wood products would be no problem. Another seems to say don't move the wood.
So, I don't know how one would safely process the wood if it cannot be used.
At this point, I think I would leave the material alone unless it is absolutely fabulous (very curly and/or full of burls) AND you don't have anything else to turn.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dan - you don't list where you live and it seems that each state has different requirements. Some allow use of the wood - some do not. I seem to remember that transportation of intact wood is a big no-no and if it is ever moved - all bark has to be removed.

I would suggest you contact a local tree service as they should have all the answers as to what you can and cannot do.

[Dan Cannon]

thanks for the replies...I'll add my location right after I send this, but I'm in NW Ohio. I'm not sure of the rules here, I'll have to look it up. If I take it, I only have to move the wood about two blocks over, and I already had my ash tree killed by the same thing (before I was interested in collecting wood), so I know I won't be introducing anything new around my house.

It's good to know the bugs only burrow in the outer portions of the wood, I was wondering if I was just going to get into a maze of bore holes.

Either way, I'll check the rules, it's not important enough to break the law for a few pieces of it.

Thanks,
Dan

[Scott Lux]

You should be ok, moving it within a county. I moved some from Franklin (infested) to Delaware (also infested). Of course, I wasn't stopped or asked. But I would not have moved it if I thought I would spread the bugs.

I found the ash to be rather boring, but great to work with.

[Jeff Nicol]

If the tree is in your own neighborhood that is not a problem as the damage has already been done. Once the tree is dead and the bark is off of it there is not much of a chance of moving any bugs. If you had a trailer full and it had all the bark on it that would throw up red flags and you would get stopped.

I saw trees into lumber where they died and then transport the lumber without any trouble as the bark is gone and so are the larvae and beetles. Since it looks like there is never going to be a way to stop the darned things, we will have to keep planting more trees and hope to find a way to eradicte the little mosters!

Have fun,

Jeff