I've tried to burn freshly cut ash just to see if it's possible, and it burned horribly in my stoves. So I get your point. But I'm not sure that green cottonwood would burn even in an outdoor fire pit on a windy day. Have you ever tried? I'm honestly curious. I tried to burning some recently cut / partially rotted white oak logs in a fire pit a few years back, and I ultimately went through about 10 gallons of diesel and a bunch of kiln dried pallet wood in order to finish the job. My conclusion was that freshly cut white oak simply does not burn on its own.
If cooler temperatures mean lower humidity, that might not be a bad thing as long as you get some sunshine.
You’d have to know Dennis. You might also know him as the original proponent of the three year plan you may have heard about so often here on fhc. He was joking about the green cottonwood.