The changing face of gathering firewood

[precaud]

I remember watching on TV years ago, footage of women in Africa who basically spent half their day walking several miles to where they could gather a load of dry branches and carry them on their back to their home, just to have fuelwood to cook with. Every year the forest got further and further away.

I'm starting to see signs of that here. I went to the Forest Service yesterday to get info on a firewood permit, $20 allows you to take up to 5 cords. I asked to see a map of the nearest permitted area, in the Santa Fe Nat'l Forest. The area is 29 miles from my home. It's a gorgeous area, called the Caja del Rio. I decided to drive up there and take a look around after work yesterday. More than half the distance is on a forest service road that isn't maintained. It was really rough for my empty Ranger, and some sections I'd be reluctant to try negotiating with a full load. I stopped halfway, turned around, and went home. Driving an hour each way through this just to get 1/3 cord isn't going to happen.

So it's back to soliciting scrounges from private property owners, and making discreet excursions onto unsanctioned public lands. It doesn't bode well for the future.

 

[Jags]

Huh, I am on the opposite end of the spectrum. I have a couple of people with acreage that are begging me to come and clean out some of the dead wood. One is about 5 min. away, the other about 20 min. away. The reality is, I still have about 14 cords of logs and unsplit rounds to process right now. And I have others that want to dump MORE for me. All hardwoods.

So much wood - not enough time. Time permitting, I could be buried with firewood at the snap of a finger.

 

[madrone]

Interesting sign of the times. The wood cutting area nearest me seems to move farther away each year as well. More competition on craigslist, for lower quality wood. We have plenty of trees here, so I'm not too worried, but I'm noticing that wood doesn't remain piled on the side of the road like it did even a few years ago. Or maybe I'm just paying more attention.

Can you make friends with an arborist?

 

[rdust]

I'm somewhat in the same boat as Jags. I have 15 cords on hand(3 years worth) and have been turning down wood lately. I've also seen some good possible scores that I drive right on by leaving it for the next guy who may have a greater need then me. If I see some good wood like hickory, locust, white oak or hard maple I think I'd still make the effort though. I was driving around yesterday noticing all the local woods full of dead ash tree's and it was driving me crazy. If I had some indoor storage I would be cutting all that I could right now since dead ash are EVERYWHERE! I told the wife I needed to get a 30'x40' pole barn put up soon so I could store more wood. :lol:

 

[precaud]

Madrone, I'm a bit surprised you're seeing the same thing up there. My memories of that area are of dense live oak forests that would last forever. Apparently not...

The problem with befriending an arborist is species-related. The fuel of choice around here is pinon, distant second juniper. There are hardly any of either left within the city, they've been crowded out by invasive species. All we have in town are Siberian Elm, which is really the dregs as firewood goes. And that's what those guys are being hired to trim/remove.

 

[quercus_kelloggii]

I travel about 16 miles (windy almost single-lane road) to the national forest where I try for oak mostly, but also pick up some douglas-fir, rarely madrone, and some incense cedar for smell/starting. I've made a few trips (had 8 load tickets for 2 cords) and have two load tickets left. It takes a minimum of 35-40 minutes out, then drive along dirt roads on the 'hunt'. Did luck out and find some storm-downed oak right off a road to a campground, that was easy and nice pickings. Otherwise, it is harder to find oak, but plenty of other to cut down (dead).

It is hard work, and the mosquitoes suck (oddly only when I'm not cutting or carrying wood do i notice them, so i keep on the move!), and I wish i had a big truck (vs. a small truck and suv).

But for 30 bucks for the permit, it has been worth it. Sure, bar oil, gas, chains sharpened, wear-and-tear on the car and my time all factor in, but it isn't awful work and it is rewarding.

Can't add to the 'harder than it has been in the past' too much. I got lucky in past years scrounging from power line cuts and road-side storm downs...

I also can go to higher altitude forests within about 30 min drive 1-way but there is no oak up there, mainly firs, so not my first pick.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I have way too much wood up here, still cutting up fallen trees and limbs on my property. I am fighting the shade and the fear of trees falling on my house. I am probably up to almost 15 cords after my first full year of processing wood. I cannot appreciate tree huggers because we have too many here and they grow back very quickly. 15 years ago we put in our 1000 foot driveway and now we have 5 inch diameter cherry trees everywhere that was cleared and there is not cement.

 

[madrone]

Madrone, I'm a bit surprised you're seeing the same thing up there. My memories of that area are of dense live oak forests that would last forever. Apparently not...

The problem with befriending an arborist is species-related. The fuel of choice around here is pinon, distant second juniper. There are hardly any of either left within the city, they've been crowded out by invasive species. All we have in town are Siberian Elm, which is really the dregs as firewood goes. And that's what those guys are being hired to trim/remove.

Bummer. Never been to NM, but pictures of Santa Fe suggest it's fairly green.

No, we have plenty of trees. Those oaks are still around. I think the difference I'm seeing now is that I'm in an urban area and more people are snatching up the free stuff. There is a big "renewable/sustainable" movement here, and wood heat is part of it. Also the recession, I think. I suspect more people using their fireplaces instead of buying oil. Outside the metro area I'm sure nobody notices any difference. Or I'm imagining it.

 

[precaud]

Never been to NM, but pictures of Santa Fe suggest it's fairly green.

The older part of town. where tourists go and take pictures, is pretty green... :lol:

No, we have plenty of trees. Those oaks are still around.

Glad to hear that. I really loved those forests.

I think the difference I'm seeing now is that I'm in an urban area and more people are snatching up the free stuff. There is a big "renewable/sustainable" movement here, and wood heat is part of it. Also the recession, I think. I suspect more people using their fireplaces instead of buying oil. Outside the metro area I'm sure nobody notices any difference. Or I'm imagining it.

I doubt you're imagining it. It fits in with the theme. If one lives in town, the forests are receding, unless you live someplace where trees grow like weeds...

Do some really burn oil for heat up there? I thought that was an east-coast phenomena.

 

[LLigetfa]

I remember watching on TV years ago, footage of women in Africa who basically spent half their day walking several miles to where they could gather a load of dry branches and carry them on their back to their home, just to have fuelwood to cook with. Every year the forest got further and further away...

Heck, I've seen more recent footage where they scrounge up camel dung to cook with. Wonder what sort of smokey flavor that imparts? Maybe a new delicacy to rival bird's nest soup.

No camels here and no chance I will be burning dog poop either. I have 18 acres of mostly forest so I will never run short of something to burn. That said though, I buy my firewood by the grapple truckload and that is becoming harder to get each year.

 

[madrone]

Do some really burn oil for heat up there? I thought that was an east-coast phenomena.

Very common. I haven't looked at stats, but I'd guess it's something like a third of homes here, with NG and heat pumps gaining ground. Still a lot of baseboard electric, too, given the traditionally cheap hydroelectricity. My place came with an oil furnace that died immediately and I briefly considered replacing with a higher efficiency model and using biodiesel, which has become popular here. In the end, it was the same price to switch to NG, and ultimately cheaper to run. Of course, the stove does the hard work during Winter anyway.

 

[precaud]

Well the more I think about this, especially considering that I used 20% more wood this winter than last, I want to have as much as possible of what I'll need in the future on hand now. This is pushing security buttons. At present I have 1 and 1/3 years of logs stacked, I want 2 years on hand by fall. Time to start finding a place to put more stacks. The neighbors think I'm nuts already...

 

[Beetle-Kill]

precaud, you aren't nuts. If you get this far north, bring a trailer- I'll get you hooked up with Lodgepole. I'm serious on that.

 

[precaud]

Thanks Beetle. I'm imagining now pulling a trailer load of logs over Raton Pass with my 4-banger Ranger... yikes!

 

[Cluttermagnet]

No doubt it's more competitive in and near cities. It's the economy for sure, and in multiple ways. People got scared during the last big oil price peak (I'm one of those). Oill will no doubt go back up as high and even higher, maybe fairly soon. But then the whole economy tanked because of widespread greed 'at the top'. Now folks had a double incentive to convert to wood burning. They're having trouble paying the bills and keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. Wood burning looks ever more attractive.

On much of the East Coast, it's a verdant place- trees everywhere- but even here, I have no doubt it's become much more competitive anywhere near cities. Out in the boonies, it probably doesn't feel much different except that the down economy means less available log length stock, slab wood, cheap pellets, etc. So more scrounging is needed for some, I guess.

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Driving an hour each way through this just to get 1/3 cord isn’t going to happen.

Egads! I can understand your frustration. I've never been to New Mexico - how much fuel does a guy need to get through the winter?

Round here in Wisconsin if you've got an average house, fairly well insulated, and a good stove you should figure on 4-6 cords. You'd have to repeat that adventure 18 times to get a years worth of wood. That's 35% of your Saturdays. Figuring 13mpg that's 80 gallons of gasoline.

 

[precaud]

Egads! I can understand your frustration. I've never been to New Mexico - how much fuel does a guy need to get through the winter?

This guy used 2.5 cords last winter, 2 cords the previous.

Round here in Wisconsin if you've got an average house, fairly well insulated, and a good stove you should figure on 4-6 cords. You'd have to repeat that adventure 18 times to get a years worth of wood. That's 35% of your Saturdays. Figuring 13mpg that's 80 gallons of gasoline.

Yep, that would be out of the question. Fortunately my Ranger gets 29mpg. But ten 60-mile round trips is too much.

I probably shouldn't admit it in this public forum, but, except for last year, all of the wood I've gathered over the last 4 years has come from property whose owner I don't know and never had contact with. I never tried to hide my activity, and was never stopped or questioned. It looks like this year will be no different...

 

[firefighterjake]

Egads! I can understand your frustration. I've never been to New Mexico - how much fuel does a guy need to get through the winter?

This guy used 2.5 cords last winter, 2 cords the previous.

Round here in Wisconsin if you've got an average house, fairly well insulated, and a good stove you should figure on 4-6 cords. You'd have to repeat that adventure 18 times to get a years worth of wood. That's 35% of your Saturdays. Figuring 13mpg that's 80 gallons of gasoline.

Yep, that would be out of the question. Fortunately my Ranger gets 29mpg. But ten 60-mile round trips is too much.

I probably shouldn't admit it in this public forum, but, except for last year, all of the wood I've gathered over the last 4 years has come from property whose owner I don't know and never had contact with. I never tried to hide my activity, and was never stopped or questioned. It looks like this year will be no different...

Things must be different in New Mexico . . . around here that kind of activity isn't looked at very favorably . . . I believe it's considered theft of property.

 

[precaud]

Things must be different in New Mexico . . . around here that kind of activity isn't looked at very favorably . . . I believe it's considered theft of property.

No different here. Just to be clear, the lands weren't personally owned, but corporate/public land - along frontage roads, on sites of future public utility expansions, etc.

 

[firefighterjake]

Things must be different in New Mexico . . . around here that kind of activity isn't looked at very favorably . . . I believe it's considered theft of property.

No different here. Just to be clear, the lands weren't personally owned, but corporate/public land - along frontage roads, on sites of future public utility expansions, etc.

Ah . . . I had visions of you driving around, spotting a nice tree to the side and just cutting it down . . . which didn't quite match up with the precaud personality that I've come to know while hanging out here . . . didn't seem like something you would do.

 

[precaud]

Ah . . . I had visions of you driving around, spotting a nice tree to the side and just cutting it down . . .

Well, there are a few juicy standing dead pinons on a particular residential property I drive by frequently, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't sorely tempted to sneak in and fell them! Have resisted the temptation thus far...

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

You might just contact the utility and find out if they sell permits. Around here the water utility gives them out free, and I believe the power utility issues permits as well. Then you don't have that weighing on your conscience.

 

[precaud]

I just found out that the land I've been gathering from this year is BLM land, with numerous easements across it for various utilities, and another major utility project awaiting approval. It was a permitted firewood area back in the late 80's to late 90's, when they were clearing parts of it in preparation for those easements being used. That explains the large number of down/dead/rotting trees I encounter.