Valuable Bermuda cedar downed in Hurricane Fabian is getting trashed by householders eager to clear gardens, fears Woodworkers Guild chairman Duval Spencer.

He said a lot of branches had been taken down but some people ended up on bonfires or trash trucks.

“We need them to be put aside for future generations. People just burn them or get rid of them. Some people might not know what they have and some people just want their yard clean.”

He urged people with unwanted cedar to call those in the wood trade to find out its worth or notify Works and Engineering.

Larger pieces can fetch around $13 for a foot square board in any shape in rough form. But dried and milled cedar can cost up to $35 a square foot said BCM McAlpine Managing Director Alan Burland - ten times more than than Virginia cedar, the popular alternative.

The highly-prized decorative wood has been illegally harvested since the 1600s and became even more valuable after blight decimated 95 percent of Bermuda's cedar forest during the middle of the last century.

Mr. Burland said mills across the island paid for cedar which had been dried out for months and some would even buy large pieces undried. But he said it was too early if Fabian's harvest would push prices down. Mr. Spencer said Bermuda even small branches of cedar were good for carving ornaments and making canes.

He is encouraging donations for youngsters to work on in the Woodworkers Guild at 296 2439.