Jack - I live on the SouthWest end of Virginia. If you stack and sticker your lumber under a roof with open sides, it will get down to 10-12% moisture within a year easily. When my lumber gets to this point, I bring it in to my shop where I keep a dehumidifier running. I let the lumber acclimate to my shop for about a month and it is ready to use. I have cut down many trees and taken them to a bandsaw mill. It is definitely worth it and fun in my opinion. Without a kiln, the only thing that you have to worry about is bugs. I examine the lumber thoroughly whenever I handle it for any signs of criiters. Dr. Wengert on Woodweb says that you can sterilize the wood once it is dried, by heating it up to 130F for 2-3 hours. I haven't tried that, but getting a kiln operator to do this for you should be cheaper than a full blown kiln drying. I always thought about renting one of those metal pod storage units in the middle of July and stacking my lumber in there to sterilize it. But I doubted whether the inside of the pod would get that hot, you would probably need to add some extra heat somehow. If anybody has figured out a cheap do-it-yourself way to sterilize, I would like to hear from them.