Sound like our Scouler's Willow (Salix scouleriana), in size and in that it grows in drier soils. I propagate that with cuttings stuck in the ground in winter (livestakes). I'd tend to grow it in zone 4 (1/year visits) if I was harvesting for craft or wattles, as you'd only visit once a year. I might put it as a food forest component in zone 3 (1/month visits) if I was using the poles on a regular basis for something. Maybe not a top choice addition for a small urban lot, but everyone needs a bottle of aspirin.
Just about everything in the Salicaceae family seems to coppice well (resprout when cut to the ground), which is how you produce the long strait shoots for craft purposes. We can
sell willow stakes for 25 cents a foot here for restoration. The bark has
medicinal market value. The poles are good for temporary fencing but it rots fast, young whips are good for basketry. It might
be nice for living
fence, I bet you could lay hedge, or even living structures.
