CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Northeasterners who are digging deeper into their pockets to pay for firewood this season can add a new scapegoat to the roster of usual market forces: fracking. A timber industry representative in New Hampshire says loggers are increasingly selling hardwood to contractors building hydraulic fracturing well sites in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale formation to build construction “mats.” Those mats allow contractors to move heavy equipment over mucky ground, wetlands or soft soils year round. The increased demand has crept down the chimney into fireplaces. Prices in parts of New England are averaging $325 a cord and can even push past $400 for a seasoned, delivered load. That’s anywhere from $50 to $75 more a cord than last year. About 2.5 million U.S. households burned wood to keep warm in 2013. (Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Yup, I heard that on the radio today. I just don't see how they are getting those prices with the low cost of oil, lp, and gas currently. Maybe people that buy half a cord to make a nice fire to look at are paying that but I doubt anyone is ordering 5 cords @ 350 a cord.
This is a bogus, agenda driven story, like most everything in the news any more. No facts to back it up, just a bunch of words.
Current prices here... "Processor wood" (nice and straight hardwood, not too big) is about $135/cord, log-length, delivered. "Hardwood pulp" (less straight) is $120/cord, log-length, delivered. Stumpage in the $5-$10 range. Have heard of some up to $15. Quite variable due to site conditions.
It's around 135 a cord log length delivered here. Hasn't changed, which leaves me to believe this is either a really bad reporting job or something got lost in translation. You can get a full chord of split hardwood here for about 250, seasoned is about 300.
So sad, but you hit the nail on the head. I was looking at the news on MSN's home page. Like reading the NY times. SPIN SPIN and more SPIN. But it isn't anything new. When I was in VietNam, we would occasionally get copies of the "Stars and Strips". We all new what had happened when we got hit, but the reports in the paper were a lot of fantasy mixed in to make the incidents present differently. Someone always has an agenda. Just very little consciousness.
Looking quickly at the NH craigslist, hardwood seems to be going for about $250-$350; with plenty of strange variation, (e.g. kiln dried for $475). Log lengths, delivered, etc.. Lots of cool stuff that we don't seem to get here in the south; where, BTW, the going price is about $200
Yeah, complete BS! And PA/NY is loaded with local hardwood also. The price of trucking all that green hardwood 3-400 miles blows that story apart alone! I don't buy any wood, but friends that buy "log legnth" are paying the same as last year.
I know a few people here pay $325 a cord of dry seasoned, then you have some people selling $250 for wet stuff
Central mass prices range from $200 - $600 / cord. Why? Cuz they can. Avg is probably around $325. I doubt it has anything to do with fracking, though. Oh, and some of those lower prices are for face or short cords, which you find out after the driver has left.
Just saw one around here couple weeks ago for 175 a cord split, along the road, don't know if that was delivered or pickup. Last year the local paper was about the same.
Not sure what everyone does for a living but anyone ever work on these mats? We do quite often and boy are they handy but they sure are made of some nice sticks sometimes
Fracking has really fallen on its face due to many reasons. One of them is the low cost of oil. Sounds like a fabricated story to me too.
Not quite there yet..... Close... I'll keep you all up to date as soon as i have progress. I'm leaning toward the napo!ean ep13t insert, but the quadrafire grand voyager is really nice too. I don't want to pay anyone to install it, so that may be the deciding factor. There's no local Napoleon dealers really close though, andi like to see what I'm spending $$ on in person first. It's like one of the only major brands not represented in MKE.
The completed fracking has driven down oil prices so far that far less drilling is being done than just 2 years ago. Any excuse for gouging firewood customers that relies on using fracking as a reason is pure BS.
We use them here for moving mine equipment over swamp land and for crossing the filter cake field during spring breakup.
Those mats were used here when the power company was putting in a new high capacity power line across the state. Didn't see any change in firewood prices.
I just looked on our local craigslist and a green cord is still hovering around 200ish a cord. Maybe this story is not from the 'northeast' but rather an area that has a mill making these mats? Besides, around here most firewood doesn't come from the 'timber industry'. It comes from tree service companies that are looking for something to do with yard trees that they remove.
