Howdy. I thought I would use my first post to tell you about this unusual source of wood. It's long been a source of heat for generations in the area I spent part of my youth (and now have permanent roots). It's officially known as Western Larch but some may know it as western Tamarack.
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/forest/westlarch.htm
What is interesting is that a huge forest fire in 1931 burned most of the summer in southern BC in an area around Camp McKinney in the Boundary area. That's just east of Osoyoos for you Google Earth fans. Fighting this large fire was a source of much needed income during the depression and there were a number of suspicious flare ups in the area as a result of that. These dry interior forests thin themselves naturally over hundreds of years as the trees compete for sunlight and moisture. Most of these areas had never been logged prior to the fire of '31 so trees 2 to 4 feet across at the butt were commonplace. There has even been the odd specimen measure out over 5'. This fire killed tens of thousands of these large Larch trees but the high concentration of sap in the butt kept them from rotting and falling over. To this day, some 75 years later, you can still see a number of these big Larch snags still standing tall over the newer growth, dead and without branches. Usually those remaining are somewhat unaccessable as all the easy ones has been harvested.
The typical Larch snag harvested in the 70's would be some 3' at the base, totally dry, no branches, a few knots maybe starting 60 to 80' up, and usually a large crack running vertical which made splitting a breeze. I've seen one tree yield 2 full pickup trucks full of wood. An 18" long round cut at the butt could weigh 75lbs. The wood produced such a hot fire that cast grates would warp and burn out if the fire's were not dampened.
When I get my new Vermont Aspen set up, I'll burn a little of this wood but mostly I'll burn Trembling Aspen. I believe some call it yellow poplar in the USA. Some if what I've cut is quite dense so it burns fairly long and puts out plenty BTU's.
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/forest/westlarch.htm
What is interesting is that a huge forest fire in 1931 burned most of the summer in southern BC in an area around Camp McKinney in the Boundary area. That's just east of Osoyoos for you Google Earth fans. Fighting this large fire was a source of much needed income during the depression and there were a number of suspicious flare ups in the area as a result of that. These dry interior forests thin themselves naturally over hundreds of years as the trees compete for sunlight and moisture. Most of these areas had never been logged prior to the fire of '31 so trees 2 to 4 feet across at the butt were commonplace. There has even been the odd specimen measure out over 5'. This fire killed tens of thousands of these large Larch trees but the high concentration of sap in the butt kept them from rotting and falling over. To this day, some 75 years later, you can still see a number of these big Larch snags still standing tall over the newer growth, dead and without branches. Usually those remaining are somewhat unaccessable as all the easy ones has been harvested.
The typical Larch snag harvested in the 70's would be some 3' at the base, totally dry, no branches, a few knots maybe starting 60 to 80' up, and usually a large crack running vertical which made splitting a breeze. I've seen one tree yield 2 full pickup trucks full of wood. An 18" long round cut at the butt could weigh 75lbs. The wood produced such a hot fire that cast grates would warp and burn out if the fire's were not dampened.
When I get my new Vermont Aspen set up, I'll burn a little of this wood but mostly I'll burn Trembling Aspen. I believe some call it yellow poplar in the USA. Some if what I've cut is quite dense so it burns fairly long and puts out plenty BTU's.
