How about rather than the perfect tree, how about the perfect combination of trees. For example, the oaks provide food for the wildlife and good fires for you. Mix in some sugar maple for both the sap and firewood. Throw in some soft maples and these along with the sugar maples give great color in the fall plus the soft maples make excellent kindling wood, extremely easy splitting and still gives good heat. Of course it would be difficult to beat the odor of fresh cut sassafras and they give good color in the fall. Then there are the various fruit trees to feed us along with pecans, hickory nuts, walnuts, etc. And let us not forget in the spring of the year the many blossoms of the various trees to give us maybe not the beauty of fall but beauty nontheless along with the promise of food in the fall.
Just remember to put on your PPE when you go into the bushes or anytime when messing with this stuff. I know a lot of guys who didn't and have regretted it for the rest of their lives. The doctor bills alone should be reason enough but most think "it'll never happen to me" but we see/hear the results every day. Watch out for the Beeches too, they look great from a distance but once you get into one you'll wish you would have just left it alone.
Cant beat black locust, and its absolute perfect firewood characteristics are a reality. Super fast dry times, easy splitting, super high BTU's. incredibly rot resistant. Shoot, I think rocks decay faster than black locust . Seriously though, 95% percent or better of my stash is typically ash and black locust. If I am limited on the black locust, I hold onto it for the colder months and burn ash in between.
