WOOD AS A FUEL 



If the decision has been made to manage a 

 forest or woodlot for a variety of products- 

 wildlife, scenery, firewood, and timbei^then 

 there are a number of things to consider be- 

 fore deciding what to cut for firewood. 

 Pound for pound, dry, sound wood differs 

 little among species groups in the energy it 

 contains (Shelton and Shapiro 1978). There 

 are, however, marked differences among tree 

 species: the ease of splitting, drying, and ig- 

 niting the wood; the energy per volume of 

 wood (some species are more dense than 

 others); coaling qualities; tendency to pro- 

 duce sparks; and resin content and conse- 

 quently creosote release (Baker et al. 1978, 

 Karchesy and Koch 1978, Shelton and 

 Shapiro 1978, U.S. Forest Service 1978, and 

 Vivian 1978). Rather than discuss all these 

 considerations here, certain tree species or 

 genera are given overall ratings on a broad 

 scale (excellent, good, and fair) in Table 1. 

 Unfortunately, many of the species that are 

 valuable as firewood when they are im- 

 mature (for example, when removed in a thin- 

 ning) are valuable as timber and to wildlife 

 when they are mature (Martin et al. 1961). 

 The values of black walnut for veneer and 

 white pine for lumber are well known and 

 such timber-related values are not discussed 

 here. But what about wildlife? 



FIREWOOD AND WILDLIFE 



The relationship between cavity-using 

 birds, such as woodpeckers, and dead or dying 

 trees (snags) has already been mentioned. 

 Large soft snags are too punky to produce 

 good firewood. However, hard snags and sup- 

 pressed trees are good candidates for firewood 

 and for these trees there is a direct trade off: 

 wood vs woodpeckers. The hairy woodpecker 

 and the red-headed woodpecker have been 

 placed on the Audubon Society's "early 

 warning list" of bird species that are de- 

 clining in number. The reason given was fire- 

 wood cutting and particularly the cutting of 

 dead trees (Arbib 1979). 



What about other wildlife species? All 

 trees have some vadue as firewood and to wild- 

 life. Some trees, quaking aspen and alder for 



example, are very important to ruffed grouse 

 and AmericEin woodcock; these trees provide 

 maximum protective cover when in dense im- 

 mature stands. Grouse and woodcock could 

 benefit from harvesting mature trees for fire- 

 wood. Apple trees, often planted by wildlife 

 biologists to enhance wildlife clearings, are 

 most beneficial to wildlife when mature; how- 

 ever, they are relatively rare on wildlands, so 

 even immature and low-vigor trees are given 

 special consideration. Other trees such as the 

 oaks and hickories are abundant in some 

 forests. These trees are important as den trees 

 and fruit producers when mature, and an 

 effort should be made to retain a mixture of 

 species to ensure regular fruit crops. Time of 

 fruit ripening differs among species, thus a 

 mixture of ash and black cherry provides a 

 more continuous fruit supply in the cherry- 

 maple forest than cherry alone. 



Detailed information on the food, cover, 

 and nesting values of particular tree species 

 to wildlife can be found in publications such 

 as those by Martin et al. (1961) and DeGraff 

 and Witman (1979). Because of the diversity 

 of life styles found among American wildlife, 

 tree-wildlife relationships are complex. 

 Therefore, we listed groups of wildlife species 

 rather than single species in Table 1. Trees 

 are rated from excellent to fair for those 

 groups and are also assigned an overall rating. 



MANAGEMENT: OBJECTIVES 



AND ACTIONS 



Select objectives clearly before managing a 

 forest or woodlot. Knowledge of the ecolo- 

 gy of the products desired (trees and animals 

 maneiged for lumber, firewood, scenery, and 

 recreation) is necessary to evaluate the costs 

 and benefits of any action. For example, con- 

 siderations in managing for nongame birds 

 were discussed by Gill et al. (1974). If the 

 choice is to manage for fuelwood and wild- 

 life, Table 1 may be used as a guideline to 

 evaluate actions under considerations. A good 

 field guide to trees and shrubs, such as 

 Trelease (1931) or Petrides (1958), will be 

 valuable especially for identifying trees in 

 winter. 



Perhaps the best single rule of thumb to 

 obtain a diversity of wildlife is to harvest 



