Firewood prices and concerns... (Ellsworth, Bucksport: house, buyers, live)

[taiinuk12]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Same in Penobscot County. By he way, you can take a third of a cord per acre per year off a wood lot forever and not diminish the resource. That's 33 cords per year from a 100 acre wood lot.

how it works, I am out of state land owner, have about 240 acres in Hancock country. I would like to work with some one that would come in and cut some unwanted trees for firewood to keep forest healthy and beautiful but do not want some one to come in and rape the forest.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by taiinuk12

how it works, I am out of state land owner, have about 240 acres in Hancock country. I would like to work with some one that would come in and cut some unwanted trees for firewood to keep forest healthy and beautiful but do not want some one to come in and rape the forest.

As I understand it, if you are a local resident, then every truck load they remove from your land, they have to document and pay you for.

If you are out-of-state, they can harvest as much as they want, and later they decide how many cords they want to pay you for.

[Maineac]

Originally Posted by Submariner

As I understand it, if you are a local resident, then every truck load they remove from your land, they have to document and pay you for.

If you are out-of-state, they can harvest as much as they want, and later they decide how many cords they want to pay you for.

I certainly hope that was tongue-in-cheek. Maine Forest management statutes apply to everyone the same. You can harvest your own property for personal use with no notifications. Any sales of Forest Products have to be recorded, particularly if the property is under Tree Growth Tax Law Treatment.

Best bet for the query is to contact a Forester in Hancock County like Fitts Mtn. Forestry in Dedham (Keith Johnson) or Geneva Duncan. I think Geneva has a State job now, though. Get a Management plan and decide if you want a real harvest or if its even worthwhile. You generally won't get someone to come in and do your weeding without somehow paying for it, either in wood or $$. If the weeding is useful firewood, it might balance out.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I know of a nonresident landowner who's family has owned land in Maine for generations. She came up one spring a few years ago and walked in her nature trail and the woods were gone! She found out who did it. He has a long history of timber theft. He was convicted and fined. She got a substantial court judgement. The thief simply declared bankruptcy and he continued to steal wood from other landowners. This is a long term problem.

[Submariner]

The guy I buy firewood from only harvests from land that is owned by out-of-state folks. I manage a parcel for my sister-in-law [she lives in DC]. She was contacted by him, asking if he could cut on her land. When she told him that it is managed by a resident, that ended the conversation.

I asked around, and I have been told that he refuses to cut wood from any land that is owned by a local [anyone who could see how much he is actually cutting].

We are actually okay with folks cutting firewood on our land. I have posted on this forum previously, asking if anyone needs a place to cut firewood.

My name and phone number are posted at one of the food pantries, if anyone there needs to cut firewood to call me.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The thieves are slick. They will call an out of state owner and tell them their trees are old and they are going to die, fall over and make a mess. There will be a fire hazard. They will send out a contract to have their wood cut and eventually the landowner gets a small check for far less than the wood was worth and the landowner is stuck with the mess.

If anybody wants to get some revenue from their land, get a forester to oversee the operation. Have it done when the ground is frozen so the skidders and trucks don't rut up your land. Ruts don't heal themselves.

[Submariner]

We learn a lot from comparing the letters my sister-in-law gets, to the stuff I get. It can be pretty interesting.

Entirely different things are mailed to out-of-state land-owners, as compared to what we get.

Like for this garbage-incinerator / toxic-waste landfill going in adjacent to my land. The legal notice sent to her is entirely different from the legal notices that town residents got.

[roadrat]

As to the OP's original post there is a very large and growing firewood business in Maine, thanks to the ever changing price of oil.
I think you will be able to run a small firewood business if you buy a decent wood lot and maintain it properly and provide a good honest service.

good luck, we can always use more hard working small business owners here in Maine.



bill

[PrincessoftheCape]

Buy in the spring. My parents get their wood for roughly half price as greenwood around this time of year, then let it cure all summer. By fall, it's as dry as it would have been sitting in some guy's shed.

[slyfox2]

I paid $225 a full cord last season for seasoned cut spit and delivered. Of course my wood guy only lives about 3/4 mile away.