Douglas Fir score

[Jeffm1]

Forest service started issuing this years wood cutting permits so I got mine. Beautiful weather and found a nice little honey hole with enough to supply me for several years worth of firewood. Got a load of Douglas fir today. Burned some last winter and really liked it. Clean, good heat and decent burn time (yeah I know, not as good as hardwoods like oak, but oak is least available hardwood where I live) better coals than pine which we have an over abundance of in my neck of the woods, and smells great. Will be back for more soon!

 

[blacktail]

Beautiful score. I think the USFS permits are really fun. Going out on public land and looking for something to take home feels a little like hunting.

 

[Jeffm1]

Beautiful score. I think the USFS permits are really fun. Going out on public land and looking for something to take home feels a little like hunting.

You know, you read my mind. I was thinking that exactly as I drove home. Some guys look for elk or deer or antelope etc. I hunt for different types of wood to burn!

 

[Coyoterun]

How do those permits work? How much geographic area do they cover? Are there limits? So many cord total, so many cord a day, etc? So many days to "hunt"?

We don't have such things here so I know nothing about them.

 

[blacktail]

Rules can be different for each national forest. Where I go it's $20 for a permit and each permit is good for 2 cords. They give 4 load tickets with the permit. Each ticket is for a half cord and has to be visible on the back of the load. There's a long list of rules but I think they're fair. The main ones are no driving off the roads, no skidding/dragging, no cutting standing trees, no cutting within 100ft of a stream, and you can only cut within 50ft of the road.

 

[blacktail]

You know, you read my mind. I was thinking that exactly as I drove home. Some guys look for elk or deer or antelope etc. I hunt for different types of wood to burn!

There's an element of excitement deciding where to go, wondering what's there, and not knowing if someone else beat you to it. It's fun when you round a corner and see what you've been looking for.
Fir is what most people around here hope to get but they don't tip over as often as other stuff.

 

[blacktail]

The load tickets make nice souvenirs to pin up in the garage.

 

[Jeffm1]

How do those permits work? How much geographic area do they cover? Are there limits? So many cord total, so many cord a day, etc? So many days to "hunt"?

We don't have such things here so I know nothing about them.

Any chance this forest is near you?
https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/nebraska/passes-permits/forestproducts

 

[Coyoterun]

Any chance this forest is near you?
https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/nebraska/passes-permits/forestproducts

A little under 200 miles one way. Probably not worth it. Last time I was there, maybe six years ago, it was getting overrun with poison ivy anyway.

Nebraska doesn't have much for native forests, like most softwoods in the state, that forest at Halsey is almost entirely planted. The only softwood that really grows on it's own here is the Eastern Red Cedar.

EDITED to remove thread derailment.

 

[Highbeam]

Rules can be different for each national forest. Where I go it's $20 for a permit and each permit is good for 2 cords. They give 4 load tickets with the permit. Each ticket is for a half cord and has to be visible on the back of the load. There's a long list of rules but I think they're fair. The main ones are no driving off the roads, no skidding/dragging, no cutting standing trees, no cutting within 100ft of a stream, and you can only cut within 50ft of the road.

I think the rules suck and made it too hard for me. Fine if you're looking for a small load for a campfire but not when you want to fill the truck. 50 feet from the road is not very far at all and then you have to pack it out of the woods one round at a time. I spent days driving in the huge allowed area for harvest with very little luck. Burned the tickets, they made more heat than the unicorn wood.

 

[spawner]

Still a great program, man i wish they did something like that in mass

 

[blacktail]

I think the rules suck and made it too hard for me. Fine if you're looking for a small load for a campfire but not when you want to fill the truck. 50 feet from the road is not very far at all and then you have to pack it out of the woods one round at a time. I spent days driving in the huge allowed area for harvest with very little luck. Burned the tickets, they made more heat than the unicorn wood.

Maybe it depends on how many other people are cutting in the area. Getting a permit as soon as the roads are clear of snow helps. I try to stay within a couple miles of pavement and never have trouble finding down trees near the roads. And 50ft is more than I'm willing to move wood. If I can't throw rounds to the road then I'm not cutting it. At most I only move my truck twice in a trip to fill it. The pics I posted in another thread showing trees next to the road were FS wood.

 

[Highbeam]

Maybe it depends on how many other people are cutting in the area. Getting a permit as soon as the roads are clear of snow helps. I try to stay within a couple miles of pavement and never have trouble finding down trees near the roads. And 50ft is more than I'm willing to move wood. If I can't throw rounds to the road then I'm not cutting it. At most I only move my truck twice in a trip to fill it. The pics I posted in another thread showing trees next to the road were FS wood.

I tried, really hard, with no luck. Still had fun driving in the woods though. My forests might be well picked over or maybe just healthier/windfirm whatever so they don't fall over. If you can find trees down then get them! I had much better luck with tree service clean up jobs. Shorter drives, sure thing, etc.

 

[Corey]

A little under 200 miles one way. Probably not worth it. Last time I was there, maybe six years ago, it was getting overrun with poison ivy anyway.

Nebraska doesn't have much for native forests, like most softwoods in the state, that forest at Halsey is almost entirely planted. The only softwood that really grows on it's own here is the Eastern Red Cedar.

EDITED to remove thread derailment.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a 'National Forest'... you might try calling around any Wildlife / Natural Resource managers, etc for Corps of Engineers, state land, conservation areas, power line cuts on public land and such.

I talked with one such guy for some CoE land near by and got a permit. After a few years going back, he ask "How much are you cutting?" I answered completely honestly... maybe 2-3 truckloads per year, trying to take the dead/dying stuff and leave the 'specimen' trees for stronger forest. I also said I wasn't looking for anything 'commercial' or doing any 'cut and sell' type stuff, it was just personal use. I then ask if there was too much cutting going on or they were looking at cutbacks?

He replied, "No - Ideally we want it clear-cut to restore natural prairie and I'm trying to see if it's worth the time to do permits or I should just get the bulldozer running."

So, ultimately, you never know... any public land may be ripe for picking. With that said, I think my last dozen truck loads have come from craigslist... can't hardly beat picking pre-cut firewood up off the ground within a few mile radius of home. Sure it might not ALL be hedge, but for that type of score, I'll stoop down to locust, oak, cherry and 'gulp' ...maple.

 

[Tar12]

This thread makes me feel very fortunate. There is always a abundance of wood for me to cut any way I want to get it done.

 

[Jeffm1]

I think the rules suck and made it too hard for me. Fine if you're looking for a small load for a campfire but not when you want to fill the truck. 50 feet from the road is not very far at all and then you have to pack it out of the woods one round at a time. I spent days driving in the huge allowed area for harvest with very little luck. Burned the tickets, they made more heat than the unicorn wood.

I am surprised at the wide variance in the rules. Every forest has different rules. Where I live you can drive off a road to pick up a load you have already cut. You just cannot drive off road to scout for wood. But once you walk to it and cut in you can drive directly in to load but then must drive directly back out to the road. I am ok with the rules they give me here. It's free for dead and down, $5 a cord for dead standing. There are some other qualifiers but I feel they are fair.

 

[Highbeam]

I am surprised at the wide variance in the rules. Every forest has different rules. Where I live you can drive off a road to pick up a load you have already cut. You just cannot drive off road to scout for wood. But once you walk to it and cut in you can drive directly in to load but then must drive directly back out to the road. I am ok with the rules they give me here. It's free for dead and down, $5 a cord for dead standing. There are some other qualifiers but I feel they are fair.

In the past they allowed skidding. What this really meant is that you could hook a thin cable to the log and run that to a snatch block on a tree by the road and then to your truck. Drive down the road which pulls the log to the road edge, and then buck up the tree and go. This worked up hill or downhill. Our forests are probably more sensitive than those forests in the desert since there is a lot of undergrowth to disturb.

Our forests are just to sterile. Lots of healthy trees growing up like they're supposed to.

 

[Coyoterun]

Our forests are just to sterile. Lots of healthy trees growing up like they're supposed to.

Too what? Not sure what you mean.

 

[Highbeam]

Too what? Not sure what you mean.

Our forests are well managed. They are just a crop after all, the purpose of the forest is to grow and be harvested for the third or fourth time now. There is very little damage from storms, avalanche, disease, or rot. The forests are homogenous (fir, hemlock, etc. ), thinned early on, and aerially fertilized to encourage healthy growth. Not sure what isn't clear.

 

[Coyoterun]

Our forests are well managed. They are just a crop after all, the purpose of the forest is to grow and be harvested for the third or fourth time now. There is very little damage from storms, avalanche, disease, or rot. The forests are homogenous (fir, hemlock, etc. ), thinned early on, and aerially fertilized to encourage healthy growth. Not sure what isn't clear.

I wasn't sure what you meant by "sterile." But that explains it nicely. Thank you.

 

[blacktail]

Our forests are well managed. They are just a crop after all, the purpose of the forest is to grow and be harvested for the third or fourth time now. There is very little damage from storms, avalanche, disease, or rot. The forests are homogenous (fir, hemlock, etc. ), thinned early on, and aerially fertilized to encourage healthy growth. Not sure what isn't clear.

National Forests around here aren't managed for timber production like they used to be. DNR land and private tree farms yes, but not usfs.

 

[Jeffm1]

Round 2....

Went back again today for more and still will have to go back yet again. This log is about 18" in diameter and probably 20 ft long.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Our forests are well managed. They are just a crop after all, the purpose of the forest is to grow and be harvested for the third or fourth time now. There is very little damage from storms, avalanche, disease, or rot. The forests are homogenous (fir, hemlock, etc. ), thinned early on, and aerially fertilized to encourage healthy growth. Not sure what isn't clear.

Around here, they call that a Tree Farm. All one species (ponderosa pine), some of the older ones were even planted in rows. Sprayed with herbicide to discourage unwanteds. It's really weird driving through those. It's only done on private land, not Forest Service.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Forest service started issuing this years wood cutting permits so I got mine. Beautiful weather and found a nice little honey hole with enough to supply me for several years worth of firewood. Got a load of Douglas fir today. Burned some last winter and really liked it. Clean, good heat and decent burn time (yeah I know, not as good as hardwoods like oak, but oak is least available hardwood where I live) better coals than pine which we have an over abundance of in my neck of the woods, and smells great. Will be back for more soon!

I'm very surprised to hear that you have Doug fir in AZ, what's the elevation? We have it here in northern California, but it becomes much less common as you go south. It is great firewood, I'm burning some as we speak. There is none available on the National Forest around here, I get mine from power line and highway maintenance cuts. Without the needles, it can be hard to distinguish from white fir. The smell is the tell for me. If it smells like Christmas tree, it's white fir. If it smells like the lumber department at Home Depot, it's Doug fir. The heavy bark plates from larger trees make great barbecue fuel. They burn down to a REALLY HOT bed of coals, though not terribly long lasting. I no longer buy briquettes.

Permits from the NFS here are $10/cord, 10 cords per year max. Standing dead and down only (although in the high desert to the east you can cut live juniper). About the only thing we get locally on NFS land is standing dead lodgepole pine. For pine, it is really good wood. No pitch, very thin bark, ready to burn when it hits the ground. It's my bread and butter, everyday wood.

 

[Jeffm1]

I'm very surprised to hear that you have Doug fir in AZ, what's the elevation? We have it here in northern California, but it becomes much less common as you go south...

Yes, when people hear I live in AZ they immediately think desert and cactus. But in northern AZ around Flagstaff the elevation is much higher and there is a very large ponderosa pine forest that also contains many other species, Douglas fir among them which tend to be found easier at the higher elevations (about 7-12,000 ft. I live at about 6800 ft and don't go above I am guessing, 9000 feet (but probably less) to get firewood. Above that, the forest service roads are much fewer and it has to be done on foot, which isn't for me.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/coconino/home/?cid=fsbdev3_054859#trees

You mentioned white fir, which we also have. It is much less dense than Douglas fir. It is very light and inside is really white not yellow/red like Doug. But another way I tell the difference is with my chainsaw. White fir, it goes through like butter but Douglas fir takes more effort and dulls the chain quicker while giving me more of a workout. Darn good lumber. Solid. Douglas doesn't want to be cut so easily as white does. But that's the difference between 14 BTU and 20. I love the smell of burning Douglas fir. Kind of reminds me of some sort of yummy bread cooking...almost like I donno, gingerbread.