What implications will Ash dieback have on woodturners?

[thebowlerhattedturner]

After seeing on the news tonight about the outbreak of Ash dieback infecting some parts of the UK what are the implications for woodturners?
       Will prices rise?
       Can we still use the timber?
       What are the health implications to using infected wood?
        Is there anything we can do to help?
Regards
John BHT

[hughie]

Well looking at it from a far I would say that you have a potential disaster on a mega scale with the possibility of it spreading to the Scots Pine.

DEFRA seems to be dragging its feet on the fungus [Chalara fraxinea ]causing the problem and therefore placing the entire 80 million Ash trees in danger.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/nov/16/ash-dieback-vulnerability-flora-fauna

This problem seem to originate in eastern Europe where it has devastated the Polish forests.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/9669165/Ash-dieback-the-ruined-Polish-forest-where-deadly-fungus-began.html


Much of the problem of its spread is no doubt due to the 10-15 million Ash saplings that are imported annualy into UK


http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/Pest-alert-ash-dieback-2012.pdf/$FILE/Pest-alert-ash-dieback-2012.pdf

The spread of it has been known about for several years,[ first noticed in the 1990's] yet the various regulatory bodies seem to be .
powerless in dealing with it.

It looks like it will impossible to get rid of it and the Govt of the day is hoping for "Natural resistance" to come to the rescue.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3629966.htm


The bottom line will what ever you pay for it now, this will the lowest price and as it becomes more scarce the price will rise. How this will effect you? your better at answering than me as I live too far away. But if it jumps species then that will be a whole new ball game, with the potential to wipe vast amounts of your forests and send timber prices through the roof. Which will in turn effect many other industries ie furniture, house building to name a few.

[woodndesign]

Hughie, Thank you for pulling all the links together, within one at the bottom was this one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9664414/Ash-dieback-No-point-in-chopping-trees-down.html ....

So what do they think of doing about it.

Although they ordered the cutting down the Elms, contractors only took large stands, small hedgerows were left to the Farmers, I know as I felled yards of Elms, only the waste was ever burnt, the main of it being logged.   I saw a friend the other day who had a large slab of Elm for carving, on wondering on the size, it came from a contractor who had felled it back then.
 
Do are lot ever learn.

David