Program gives Saginaw County's dead ash trees new life

Dan Keane is turning a lot of dead wood into new opportunities in Saginaw County.

After seeing thousands of dead ash trees end up in the wood chipper or in cords of firewood, the district forester with the Saginaw Conservation District had a few ideas about how to turn the emerald ash borer infestation into an opportunity for the district and other organizations in the community.

Keane and the district recently received a $3,000 grant from the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network to expand the urban wood reuse program he started a couple of years ago.

Thanks to Keane's program, the wood now will be used in area high school shop classes. He's also talking to a couple of area organizations about using the wood in home-building and renovation projects. He's found a handful of area hardwood flooring companies that also are interested in using the wood. And some of the wood now is used to build benches at farmers markets throughout the state.

With the grant, Keane also hopes to generate a small revenue stream for the district by selling some of the wood to area woodworkers and custom saw shops.

So instead of feeding the wood chipper, the ash trees killed by the emerald ash borer infestation in Saginaw County can be put to better use, he says.

"There's an opportunity to demonstrate that this is a valuable resource, and that it is underutilized," he says.

The program seemed like a perfect fit for the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network, says Michael Kelly, director of the Great Lakes Office of The Conservation Fund, which oversees the watershed initiative network.

"The objective here is to determine if communities can raise some revenue from these dying trees in town," Kelly says. "We're always looking for new ideas and innovation, and this is one those projects that can provide revenue stream."

Writer: Jenny Cromie
Sources: Saginaw Conservation District and Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network