Chestnut blight in Victoria ...

[Afro Boy]

Hiya,

Just heard a report on the radio about the chestnut tree fungus affecting some of the Victorian chestnut trees. They estimate a few thousand trees to be cut down and "burnt."

Now I'm no expert in tree diseases and stuff but I wonder about the following:

1. Is chestnut wood any good for woodworking purposes?

2. Wouldn't there be some other way to treat these so the timber could be salvaged and put to some better use (well, better than burning it and releasing 20 or so years of carbon capture into the atmosphere)?

Cheers,
Af.

[bsrlee]

If its the same as the Chestnut blight they have in the US, it just kills off the tree above ground, leaving the roots to keep pushing up shoots which then last for 1-2 years before dying off. The timber itself is unaffected materially by the fungus.

I don't know if burning the trees will affect the fungus, I would expect that you would have to excavate a few feet into the ground & sterilize all the soil & leaf litter for several metres around the entire infected area - it it is in plantations that could add up to hundreds of hectares to be dug up & sterilized.

The US blight was, of course, introduced there by importing chestnut products from China (surprize). There is a group trying to develop a resistant hybrid chestnut based on the North American chestnut crossed with some of the Asian varieties which are resistant. And just to prove they don't learn, they have now introduced another pest which is attacking another important commercial tree - from China.

[fubar]

according to AQIS the blight came in on prunings 20 years or so ago that were privately smuggled in

[Afro Boy]

Thanks for the background info folks. :2tsup:

I was wondering if there were any initiatives underway (either with this specifically or elsewhere) where woodworkers help to mill and make good use of "diseased" trees? It seems such a shame for them to be cut down and burnt as an offering to the carbon gods.