Firewood Processor Forum

In December 2002 my home state had a massive ice storm that destroyed millions of trees. I read in a state forestry publication that for the good of the forrest the fallen limbs need to be burned with a controlled burning. He stated the insects living in the dead trees are multiplying by the millions. I'm not sure what kid of insect he said on a normal healthy tree you may only find a dozen inside and now they are finding thousands. Theses insect are killing trees and I have seen many (100s) die on my own property.

Now this past winter my state had another massive ice storm with millions of more trees damaged. We are looking at the same problem again. I don't want to loose my trees. I have noticed the trees, dozens of them, that look sick will die in a few years.

I consider my self a conservationist. I love the outdoors and want to do what I can to protect my environment.

Does it hurt the environment to burn acres of fallen limbs in these kind of situations?
And if it does is it better to burn indoors as a fireplace, wood heater, or wood furnace in the wiinter to clear up my problem on a smaller scale? (I do understand this would take years to do.)

Does burning firewood hurt the environment? What is best for all? What is best for my trees?


By the way I am talking hardwoods such as oak and hickory.

In December 2002 my home state had a massive ice storm that destroyed millions of trees. I read in a state forestry publication that for the good of the forrest the fallen limbs need to be burned with a controlled burning. He stated the insects living in the dead trees are multiplying by the millions. I'm not sure what kid of insect he said on a normal healthy tree you may only find a dozen inside and now they are finding thousands. Theses insect are killing trees and I have seen many (100s) die on my own property.

Now this past winter my state had another massive ice storm with millions of more trees damaged. We are looking at the same problem again. I don't want to loose my trees. I have noticed the trees, dozens of them, that look sick will die in a few years.

I consider my self a conservationist. I love the outdoors and want to do what I can to protect my environment.

Does it hurt the environment to burn acres of fallen limbs in these kind of situations?
And if it does is it better to burn indoors as a fireplace, wood heater, or wood furnace in the wiinter to clear up my problem on a smaller scale? (I do understand this would take years to do.)

Does burning firewood hurt the environment? What is best for all? What is best for my trees?


By the way I am talking hardwoods such as oak and hickory.

In December 2002 my home state had a massive ice storm that destroyed millions of trees. I read in a state forestry publication that for the good of the forrest the fallen limbs need to be burned with a controlled burning. He stated the insects living in the dead trees are multiplying by the millions. I'm not sure what kid of insect he said on a normal healthy tree you may only find a dozen inside and now they are finding thousands. Theses insect are killing trees and I have seen many (100s) die on my own property.

Now this past winter my state had another massive ice storm with millions of more trees damaged. We are looking at the same problem again. I don't want to loose my trees. I have noticed the trees, dozens of them, that look sick will die in a few years.

I consider my self a conservationist. I love the outdoors and want to do what I can to protect my environment.

Does it hurt the environment to burn acres of fallen limbs in these kind of situations?
And if it does is it better to burn indoors as a fireplace, wood heater, or wood furnace in the wiinter to clear up my problem on a smaller scale? (I do understand this would take years to do.)

Does burning firewood hurt the environment? What is best for all? What is best for my trees?


By the way I am talking hardwoods such as oak and hickory.

The main difference between letting trees rot and burning them is that the first takes a great deal of time and the second is faster. If you can make good use of the downed wood to heat your home, go for it. That will reduce your dependence on fossil fuels, so the net effect will be better.Burning the wood will also help to protect the healthy trees from infestation, another plus.

I have an arrangement with two landscapers in my neighborhood to drop off rounds of hardwoods that they cut for clients. They keep their own costs down, the landfill lasts a little longer, and I save money on heating. Over the past couple of decades, I have only had to buy two cords of wood.

No, burning wood does not harm the environment. Burning wood release CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), a gas that is essentially the life-blood of our planet. Plants need CO2 to live. If the level of CO2 (read: carbon) in our atmosphere is reduced, then there is less for the plants to use.

Fires... as well as ice storms are natural. So are insect infestations from time to time.

I suggest you use the trees to heat your home, as they're going to be either burned or digest by a bug anyway. If you protect the trees around your home to keep it looking beautiful, that's an additional benefit.

Considering that the state is recommending the wood be burned for insect control it would be better to make use of the heat created by burning. As you said it would take years of home heating to use all that wood. By then the wood will be destroyed by the insects and they will destroy more trees. Perhaps the wood can be sold to a biomass power plant where it wouldn't take years to use it and the energy wouldn't be wasted with an outdoor controlled burn.

Whatever energy source you choose, its use will have an impact on the environment. The best energy sources are renewable and the best of those are solar power and wind power because their environmental impacts tend to be low. As good as they are, though, they do have their problems and limitations. Wood is another renewable energy source with its own problems and limitations, some of which can be managed and minimized, others of which cannot. But when it is used effectively, wood is a fine fuel compared to the fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, whose consumption leads to global warming.

The large scale burning of wood in the mentioned "controlled burning" will create an negative impact on the environment, but in terms of environmental issues, this probably would be one of the actions deemed necessary and acceptable, as it concerns quality of life.

The fallen limbs, if left alone, would become home to many organisms as they rot. Insect, in particular, would find these fertile lands they can call home. The concern is that the bugs would cause la large scale nuisance to nearby human habitation and locally imbalance the ecosystem. Over time (decades/centuries) the forest would balance itself out, but the habitability of the human areas would be adversely impacted during that time, hence the choice to burn the fallen limbs.

As for the "sickly" trees, not much you can do except maybe cull them early and harvest them for firewood or woodworking (sort of like predators taking only the old and sick of their herds). This would prevent the sick trees from fighting for resources and make way for new growth. A professional tree service can determine which trees are worth saving.

As for using the limbs for firewood, that is actually better than the mass burning. It's because you are at least using the heat generated instead of just getting rid of the material. Of course, you will need to do your best to keep the wood from rotting and minimizing infestation, as that would make for fairly unusable firewood. The earlier you can get to the fallen trees before they go bad, the more useful the stock.

Good luck!

best is a method that does not cut trees period and the one that does not pollute the air....we need wind and solar power..power from tides etc. This technology will accelerate this century!