Turning Urban and Community Trees into Products Involves the Entire Wood Use Chain:

• Arborists – fell trees, harvesting logs
• Sawyers – mill logs into lumber
• Woodworkers – build wood products from lumber
• Intermediaries – specify and sell wood products
• End users – buy finished wood products

Illinois Emerald Ash Borer Wood Utilization Team

• Goal: to encourage the harvesting and use of wood from urban and community trees felled in Illinois.
• Funding: grant from U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC) supplemented by in-kind matching support from influential partners including the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Chicago Furniture Designers Association.
• Team: 14 Illinois state and federal government officials and industry leaders. The Team supports a Wood Utilization Network of over 100 urban foresters, municipalities, landowners, wood processors, green builders, economic development organizations, and consumers.
• History: First funded in 2007, the Team is a subcommittee of the Illinois Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Readiness Team, which is part of the Governor’s Management and Science Advisory Panel under the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The EAB Readiness Team was originally assembled under the leadership of the Morton Arboretum in 2003.
• Accomplishments: Click on the icons for the links in the wood use chain to learn what we are doing to support each link in the chain. View our PowerPoint presentation, Beetles, Bats and Beyond: Harvesting Community Timber.

Illinois Emerald Ash Borer Wood Utilization Team Members

Team Chairperson

Edith Makra
Community Trees Advocate
The Morton Arboretum

Team Members

Robert Benjamin
Outreach Coordinator
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Laureen T. Blissard
Member & Past Chair
U.S. Green Building Council – Chicago Chapter

Jeffrey Coath
EAB Program Supervisor
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Paul Deizman
Emerald Ash Borer Program Manager
Illinois Department of Agriculture

Tom Dilley
Metro Initiatives Coordinator
U.S. Forest Service

Tom Gargrave
Regional Forester
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Jay Hayek
Extension Forester
University of Illinois

Juli Heminghous

Emerald Ash Borer Outreach Coordinator
Illinois Department of Agriculture


Edward Kalebich
Chief Operating Officer
Robbins Community Power

Dick Little
Grant Administrator
Illinois Conservation Foundation

Dolly Spragins
Co-Chair
Rising From Ashes: Furniture From Lost Trees

Randy Timmons
District Forester
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Jim Tresouthick
Landscape Maintenance Superviso
Village of Homewood

Staff

Michele Beaulieux
Principal
Work In Motion

Contact Us

For information and/or to receive occasional email updates, send an email to info@illinoisurbanwood.org.

News and Resources

Upcoming Events

Symposium on Ash in North America, March 9-11, 2010, West Lafayette, IN

Dolly Spragins, co-chair of Rising From Ashes: Furniture from Lost Trees, will be presenting on furniture from salvage ash.

2010 Furniture Society Conference, Fusions: Minds & Hands Shaping Our Future

June 16-19 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Dolly Spragins and John Kriegshauser, the co-chairs of Rising From Ashes, will be presenting.

Directory Resources

Certified Arborists For Hire in Illinois

The Illinois Arborist Association maintains this directory of certified arborists

December 2009 Illinois Directory of Small Custom Sawmills

Find mills willing and able to mill infested ash trees and other urban and community timber.

Architectural Woodwork Institute
This well-established institute with worldwide representation of woodworkers, designers, students, and material suppliers has 55 professional members listed in Illinois.

Cabinet Makers Association
Search for members of this professional association of cabinetmakers by zip code.

Certified Custom Woodworkers Association
CCWA members cross a variety of woodworking fields from architecture woodwork, fixtures and displays to millwork and production wood products. Narrow down your needs and your location on this site to find an appropriate member. More than 100 are in Illinois.

Chicago Furniture Designers Association
This well-established association of over 60 fine custom furniture designers in the Chicago area has mounted exhibitions promoting sustainability. The site showcases members’ furniture.

Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters
Members of this advanced union produce custom quality woodwork including architectural woodwork, casework and cabinets, counters and solid surfaces, exhibit and displays, millwork, stairs, truss and panel. The directory includes members across the Midwest.

Custom Made
This artisan directory lists over 25 Illinois artisans displaying over 150 custom crafted wood pieces ranging from furniture to built-ins to crown molding to front doors.

Woodworkers Directory
This nationwide directory lists over 90 Illinois woodworkers and businesses involved in architectural and custom millwork. It also includes directories for boat building, cabinets, musical instruments, picture frames, carving, finishing, furniture, veneer & marquetry.

Brochures, Reports, and Presentations

Harvest Urban Timber!

Wood Utilization Team brochure: Reclaim Trees. Reduce Waste. Create Beauty.

Emerald Ash Board

Illinois Emerald Ash Borer Wood Utilization Team brochure advocating the use of ash wood: Create Beauty From Ash Trees Affected by EAB

Beetles, Bats and Beyond: Harvesting Community Timber

Wood Utlization Team PowerPoint Presentation on the links in the community wood use chain.

Today Show Feature on Wilmette Wonder Boys

Tells the story of Little League baseball bats made from Emerald Ash Board made from trees taken down in the Illinois suburb of Wilmette

Chicago's Urban Forest: Research and Opportunity Identification

Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design Graduate Student Report citing creative options for urban wood use.

Environmental & Urban Wood Reclamation
An Illinois Institute of Technology Undergraduate Interprofessional Project reviewing market options for the wood generated from three suburban Chicago communities

For the Betterment of the Urban Forest

City Trees magazine article by Homewood Village Jim Tresouthick describing wood utilization

Useful Iliinois websites

Illinois Department of Agriculture Emerald Ash Borer Information

Illinois Arborist Association

Rising From Ashes: Furniture From Lost Trees

Wood Utilization Team co-sponsored this juried traveling fine furniture show featuring pieces made from Emerald Ash Board

Useful websites from other states

Ash Utilization Options Project of Southeast Michigan

Dovetail Partners, Inc. (Environmental Consultants)

Harvesting Urban Timber (Book)