Firewood

Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets. Firewood can be seasoned and heat treated (dry) or unseasoned (fresh/wet). It is generally classified as either hardwood or softwood. Firewood is a renewable resource. However, demand for this fuel can outpace its ability to regenerate on a local or regional level. Good forestry practices and improvements in devices that use firewood can improve local wood supplies. Moving firewood long distances can potentially transport diseases and invasive species. For most of human history, firewood was the main fuel, until the use of coal spread during the Industrial Revolution. As such, access to firewood was a valued resource, with wood botes or the right to gather firewood ,being a significant aspect of many medieval leases. As late as 19th C America, Thoreau considered that it was “remarkable what a value is still put upon wood even in this age and this country...the prince and the peasant, the scholar and the savage, equally require still a few sticks from the forest to warm them and cook their food”. Harvesting or collecting firewood varies by the region and culture. Some places have specific areas for firewood collection. Other places may integrate the collection of firewood in the cycle of preparing a plot of land to grow food as part of a field rotation process. Collection can be a group, or an individual activity. The tools and methods for harvesting firewood are diverse. File:Mozambique - firewood collector.jpg|Firewood collector in [[Mozambique]] File:Paysans à vélo.jpg|Firewood transportation from farm to home in [[Maroua, Cameroon]] Some firewood is harvested in "woodlots" managed for that purpose, but in heavily wooded areas it is more often harvested as a byproduct of natural forests. Deadfall that has not started to rot is preferred, since it is already partly seasoned.