On this parcel of land I am buying there are quite a few nice straight 20-28" diameter Quaking Aspens (populus tremuloides) and some Big Toothed Aspen (Populus Grandidentata) as well. We will have to take most of them down to clear the lot for our buildings. We will be having a sawyer with a band saw mill come later this summer to mill a bunch of maple, ash, and hemlock logs that will also be taken down for site work.

My question is, never having worked with poplar, is it worth having these popple logs milled up for any purpose, and for what? The house and sugarhouse will be timber framed with hemlock timbers, and we will be using the ash and maple for interior finish. Can popple be used for rough framing material? I know it is light and brittle but could it be used for non-structural framing or siding? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

I know we could use it for sugarwood but these trees easily have two defect free straight 16' saw logs in each and it seems a shame to just turn them into firewood.