Yesterday, as I was cutting Hemlock Logs, and forced to leave tops...anything under 8 inches in diameter in the woods for lack of a market. I thought...'what a waste'. My plan is to go back and cut the wood for firewood and my own small sawlogs, but for many conventional loggers, the only option is to let good wood rot. YET... This past winter a local Non Profit Firewood Distributor for the poor had hundreds of cords of firewood, and ran out within the first month of the heating season, and that was before the cold snap that hit. That tells me there is a huge demand for firewood for those that cannot afford it. I am not a huge fan of subsidizing stuff, but with few markets for softwood, and the two mills that do take it apparently going to be shuttered soon; it seems like a case could be made for the State subsidizing a softwood Firewood Market for the poor. Without question this is non-traditional, but the demand for hardwood is already insatiable here in Maine; getting rid of softwood is the biggest problem. They are already subsidizing the biomass market in a huge way! Additionally, many of those getting firewood already have oil and that is subsided, but the money ultimately going out of country (middle-east). I burn softwood firewood and at the current rate, will burn even more so. I go through more of it because of the inherent issue with softwood, but what does it matter when so much is available. For the elderly and poor, they are at home to keep the stove stoked. It seems like a good deal: fuel the Maine economy, AND the woodstoves of those that are poor? THOUGHTS?
Maine will probably vote on a work retirement for Medicaid recipients soon. Community service to qualify for benefits could include working for a wood bank.
I would think that you would need to dry it properly before giving soft wood away. Chances are the people receiving it are going to burn it as soon as they get it. Wouldn’t want to give some one wood that doesn’t know better and they end up with a chimney fire. Just my thought..
It could, I am not sure how much wood could be purchased that way; limited I am sure because of a limited budget. I would think more limits would have to be put into place too if it went bigger. It is good to give firewood to those that really need it, BUT no one wants to screw firewood producers out of sales either by being unfairly subsidized by a non-profit organization.
