Here are some tips about firewood, both for landowners who can cut firewood & improve their woodlands, as well as for homeowners hoping to save a few dollars in home-heating bills during the winter.

Rather than just spending time in the woods with a chainsaw to restock the woodpile, landowners can actually improve the health & condition of their woodlands by removing trees selectively.

Cutting trees for firewood provides several benefits. Trees are renewable & can be harvested periodically without a permanent disturbance to the natural environment. Using firewood from his own woodlot can be cheaper than using electricity or natural gas. Selecting the right trees to cut for firewood can make his woods more productive. He can enjoy the personal satisfaction from working in his woodland & see positive results.

Using wood for fuel also creates an opportunity to correct past mistakes. Past cutting practices often removed the best & left the crooked, diseased, fire-scarred & otherwise undesirable or unsalable trees.

Regardless of his objectives as a forest landowner wildlife, income, aesthetics, recreation removing certain trees can help him meet those objectives. If he doesn’t thin his woodlands, it will thin itself. Trees need room to grow. Trees growing too close together will compete for water, nutrients & sunlight. As trees become overcrowded, competition increases & growth slows. Trees that cannot compete will die. A young stand of trees may start with thousands of stems per acre. By the time they measure 20 inches in diameter, fewer than 100 trees per acre will survive. The rest of them die out due to competition.

Before thinning his woodlot, he needs to know the general worth of his trees. If his objective is timber income, favor the trees & species with the greatest potential value in the timber market for his area. To manage for wildlife, keep the trees that provide the best food, cover and nesting habitat. Regardless of his objectives, he should focus on the forest of the future. Always base any harvesting plan on the trees he wants to keep, rather than the trees he wants to cut. This requires that he knows what he wants from his woodlot long before he cuts a single tree.

First remove trees whose crowns touch or are too close to the crowns of the trees he wants to favor. They are direct competitors. If two desirable trees are side by side, he may need to leave both & release each one on three sides instead of all four. Also remove trees that are diseased, badly fire-scarred, ice damaged or just barely hanging on.

In most young hardwood stands, there are some trees in the under story that are smaller than the crop trees. In this position they are deprived of sunlight, which is nature's way of removing them from the stand. Removing these trees may not help the growth of young crop trees much, but they can provide enough firewood to make the effort worthwhile. Do not remove all the under story trees however, because they can provide valuable nesting & feeding habitat for many songbirds.

Above all, work safely in the woods. Felling trees & cutting logs to length can present serious safety hazards. Be sure he knows what he is doing & stay alert. Chainsaw safety courses are highly recommended for those unfamiliar with this activity.

He might want to contact his local service forester or forestry consultant before he begins. He or she will give him information on identifying crop trees & answer any questions he might have about the management of his woodlands.

Before put another log on the fire this winter, take a close look at that log. Here are some tips on buying firewood.

When to buy. Seasoned wood can be in short supply by late fall. The best time to cut or buy wood is in early summer for burning in the winter. It usually takes six months for green wood to dry completely. Unfortunately many of people don’t think of firewood until the weather turns cold. If the wood he buys now is very heavy & moist or is oozing sap, it is not ready to burn. It is much safer & more effective to burn dry wood. Dry wood is usually lighter in weight, has loose bark, is grayish in color & has cracks & splits on the ends. If he insists on buying seasoned wood in the middle of winter, expect to pay more if he can find it. Use the experience to plan better next year.

Storage. Don’t stack firewood against his house. Not only is it a fire hazard, but also wood-eating insects may move from the firewood to his house. Protect firewood from the elements to keep it dry. Expect to lose the first layer of wood stacked on the ground, as excessive moisture quickly leads to rot & termite damage.

Measurement. In Oklahoma, firewood sellers must sell wood by the cord or some fraction of a cord. A cord is the amount of wood tightly stacked in 128 cubic feet of space measuring 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. A half-cord would be a stack 4 feet by 8 feet with sticks 24 inches long. A 4 by 8 foot stack with sticks only 16 inches long is only one-third of a cord.

Species. He will get more heat for his firewood dollar if he burns dense woods such as hickory, black locust, ash, or red & white oak. Pass on the elm, willow, cottonwood, pine & cedar.

Efficiency. In most cases, a wood stove is more efficient than a fireplace if heat is what he desires. Fireplaces without an insert are not very efficient, and may actually draw heat from his home rather than the other way around. Be sure & has his chimney cleaned & checked by a local chimney sweep annually to minimize the risk of fire.

About cutting his own. Cutting his own firewood sounds more romantic than it is. Is there a place he can go & get landowner permission to cut wood? Does he have a chainsaw & can he use it safely? Can he transport the wood? For most people, finding a reputable firewood dealer is still the best & cheapest way to go.