Dead Galveston trees may held refurbish world's only remaining wooden whaling ship in Mystic, CT; Galveston, TX

Dead Galveston trees may branch out into ship repair | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
GALVESTON — Instead of a date with a dump, live oaks killed by Hurricane Ike in Galveston may get an unusual second lease on life.
Some of the trees might be used to refurbish the world’s only remaining wooden whaling ship. The Mystic Seaport maritime museum is hoping to haul six to eight truckloads — about 176 tons — of live oak from Galveston to the museum in Mystic, Conn., where it is rebuilding the 1841 whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, said Quentin Snediker, director of the museum shipyard.
As much as the city welcomes the museum’s interest in taking away the wood, the 176 tons will barely make a dent in the estimated 40,000 dead trees killed by Ike that must be cut down and disposed of by Sept. 12 to qualify for federal reimbursement.
The city is struggling to find ways to dispose of the mountains of wood that will be cut down, but options are few. Another problem is convincing property owners that their dead trees — victims of saltwater storm surge — must be cut before they become a safety hazard.