There is plenty of discussion about the value of timber that is standing dead. Silver Birch will just crumble in your hand whereas Oak may be rock solid in the middle. 
Along the cycle track just a bow shot from our house are loads of wild plum trees, I noticed slim trunk was dead, it was about 12-15' tall. When I sawed it down the top 6' just smashed into pieces.
I'm pretty sure it's plum but it does look a bit like Cherry. The bark had insect holes in it and some of the outer wood was rotten, however running it through the band saw has produced two nice lengths of about 2x1". The ends were worst and there is still some dodgy wood along the edges. You can see in the end the obvious difference between the sound wood in the middle and the rotten outer stuff, the insect holes tend to go in and then along and don't penetrate right into the centre.
I'll let it season (well away from my decent staves) and see how it turns out. You can see how attractive the wood is, and even if there isn't a bow there it will have decorative uses elsewhere, maybe laminated with other woods for built up handles or carving. It would have been hard work to clean up without a power saw, but it shows what you can find lurking in the hedgerows.
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