replacing bender on a Colorado yurt

[walking]

We have a 24 ft Colorado yurt with two doors. About 1/4 of our bender board which holds lattice on the bottom in place has rotted out because of

moisture

. It needs to be replaced. Anybody done this or know how to do it? Do we need to take down the canvas sides or can we just lift them. Also I am wondering if instead of making another wooden bender if we can replace the wooden bender board with something that won't rot like plastic or aluminum so we don't run into this problem again. Appreciate any input.