Thank you USFS!

[Jeffm1]

This isn't going to be a big deal for many of you who live where oak and other hardwoods grow everywhere. But where I live, oak is very scarce and hard to come by... so I was out in national forest with my wood cutting permit...it only allows me to take dead and down oak-no standing oak. Period. No matter how dead. So about 7 years ago there was a major forest fire that roared through the spot I was at. So I am driving along on a forest service road scanning for oak and I spot a clump of Gambel oak off in the distance --all dead but standing. Can't get that. But I notice something in the weeds and had a hunch it might be a decent sized branch that had fallen. So I parked and got out and hiked about 100 yards across a ravine climbing over rocks and logs. When I arrived I was amazed at how things looked different once I was actually standing there. Hidden among all the wild weeds that had grown over them were more than a dozen 8-10 inch diameter oak branches that had already been cut to carryable size length by US forest service fire fighters 7 years ago! BOOYA! All just laying there on the ground no rot and solid as could be, bark falling off and within eye sight of the road! I could not believe that after 7 years I was the only one that must have walked over there to take a closer look. From a distance it looked like twigs laying there. But if you look in the distance of the ninth picture you can see my Ford Explorer in the distance at the top of the photo on the dirt road to see how big the branches are and how much. Sometimes it pays to follow a hunch! A little here a little there. It all ads up. In fact, there was enough that I couldn't get it all before it got dark. So I had to go back the next morning to get the rest. Once I got it all home I took a moisture meter to a fresh split. Came in at 14-15%!. Yeah, it was a little work but sometimes when you are willing to do the work that others aren't you get rewarded for it. Needless to say, I was pretty happy.

 

[Vikestand]

Boy, sometimes I don't realize how good I have it!


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[WoodyIsGoody]

Congrats, nice score! The National Forest that feeds my stove requires all wood collected be within 50 feet of the road.

But I know the feeling, I found some Garry Oak last month.

Enjoy!

 

[Jeffm1]

Congrats, nice score! The National Forest that feeds my stove requires all wood collected be within 50 feet of the road.

But I know the feeling, I found some Garry Oak last month.

Enjoy!

We have other restrictions but fortunately 50 feet from the road is not one of them!

 

[bfitz3]

I'm not a fan of said restrictions.... Until I imagine the quagmire that would be left by the unscrupulous if they had free reign over things. Like all things, it only takes a few ashats to ruin it for everyone else. That being said... Nice haul!

 

[sportbikerider78]

I'm amazing how you have to look for good firewood...but you likely burn waaaaaay less than we do out here in the cold and wet NE.

 

[billb3]

burns better than saguaros huh ?

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

I'm amazing how you have to look for good firewood...but you likely burn waaaaaay less than we do out here in the cold and wet NE.

Well, I wouldn't put it like that. We have GOOD firewood coming out of our ears. But aficionado wood-burners like to look for GREAT firewood. In many ways the Douglas Fir is better as it is almost ash-less, cuts/splits easier and lights off into a raging inferno very quickly without kindling. However, it puts out about 25-30% less btu's/load than most Eastern hardwoods. I've gone 2-3 weeks of steady burning without emptying the stove of ashes. But for those long windy nights below freezing it's nice to maximize the stoves output with some nice oak, fruitwood or Pacific Madrone.

If you like riding your sport bike on rural mountain pass highways (with real mountains and almost no traffic), or skiing deep powder snow (again, in real mountains) you would forget about easy access to hardwoods really quickly!

 

[blacktail]

Congrats, nice score! The National Forest that feeds my stove requires all wood collected be within 50 feet of the road.

But I know the feeling, I found some Garry Oak last month.

Enjoy!

The permits I get require the wood to be within 50ft of the road. In most cases, I require it to be even closer!

 

[BigFir]

The permits I get require the wood to be within 50ft of the road. In most cases, I require it to be even closer!

Yep if it is more than 50' we build our own road even though we don't have any regs pertaining to that.

Nice score to the OP!

 

[Highbeam]

Permits for us in the national forest also require 50 feet max so no 100 yard drag which sounds like a LOT of work! Funny how national forest permits have varying conditions depending on state.

I'm amazing how you have to look for good firewood...but you likely burn waaaaaay less than we do out here in the cold and wet NE.

You might be surprised. Parts of the NE might get colder but we in the PNW burn for 9 months of the year, mid September to mid june. It is cold, wet, and dark for the majority of the year.