With teak (the good stuff) following in the footsteps of mahogany and other high grade, overly exploited exotics or rain forest specials, I had an interesting experience recently.
When considering toe rails for a smaller boat (J24), I was presented with over-priced plastic (manufacturer's current material of choice), over-priced teak (quoted $30+ bdft for good clear grade stock), or even more money to pay someone else to mill said teak.
Black locust, on the other hand, is available domestically in New England, is potentially more durable in teak depending on installation, and close to a power of 10 less expensive. A single 8/4 board, <10 bdft, carefully selected, yielded around 60ft of finished milled toe rail materials that are sure to stand out. $45.00 and a ton of fun with the table saw. Ok maybe not a ton of fun, I was surprised at how prone to burn marks the material is, and I was wearing a full faced respirator the whole time.
But it doesn't contribute to deforestation.
I'll have to get some photos put up here later, but looking forward to the result on the boat!