Thoughts on Removing Wood from Woodland

[Onelifeoverland]

I spoke to Cardiff Council recently as I'll often walk the dog through one of their woodland areas. My question was if I see deadwood can I help myself? Providing I'm sensible about what intake? Explaining that I carve for my own satisfaction - I don't mass produce and I dont profit.

On the subject of removing wood they took the official stance of deadwood is a natural habitat....blah blah blah (I know and agree btw) but I'm not talking about taking enough wood to warm my house I explained. Just the odd branch every now and again. They said, whilst that is the official stance it certainly isn't monitored and unless you rock up with a trailer ready to load it up you are also unlikely to ever be challenged by a warden either if you just have a small branch or log under your arm.

What does everyone else do that wishes to source green wood?

P.s. keep a look out for my other post asking about best UK source for carving blanks too

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[Broch]

It's a tricky one to be honest. In a busy area, if everyone took just one chunk every time they walked through, the woodland floor would be deprived a very important habitat very quickly.

As a woodland owner I wouldn't take kindly to people helping themselves to deadwood to be honest; I see it as vital to the ecology of the wood. Having said that, I am more than happy for people I know to cut the odd stick (as long as it's not one that I've been monitoring and planning to use ) or I'll even source and cut wood for them if they have a specific project and it falls within my 'thinning' plans.

I think you would be better talking to the council about where they are thinning or cutting back then you can get green wood for your projects. Around here they are cutting ash, hazel and sycamore on the roadside and just chipping it or burning it. You could also look up and talk to local arborist companies.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Train your dog to carry the wood...and not chew it too much

 

[Code 4]

I tend to help myself to storm downed trees, not on my land. I cleared a public footpath recently. I just cut it all up and threw it into my field. Then its repeated long pushes with the wheelbarrow to home. Finders keepers style.
Two footpaths were blocked so a service was down for the walkers. You would wait an age for the council and then it would be volunteers. I got a few more to cut up yet but I only take trees that have fallen.

 

[Muddypaws]

I was on good terms with the local council's parks and open spaces department. I used to see some of the workers regularly when walking my dog. If they were clearing fallen trees, or maintaining paths then I would often ask, and be told that it was no problem to take a little for my carving.
After scoring some decent sycamore from them I thought it would be a good idea to present them with some of the fruits of my labours. Some sycamore spoons went down quite well, and a little goodwill will be helpful for the future.

 

[Robson Valley]

I like Broch's plan the best = ask about road side clean-ups. If all they do is chip it,
you might just have a gold mine of wood stock.

I have never liked carving branches.
They all exhibit reaction wood which makes one side of every branch much tougher than the other.
Compression wood on the lower sides of conifer branches, tension wood on the upper sides of broad-leaf species.

I used to scavenge the debris piles from forest logging here.
Eventually, I had to admit that the wood was just too dirty.
For some years now, I go straight to the sawmills and buy clean wood.
12" x 24" x 8" shake blocks, 5" x 5" x 64" posts, all $5.00 each.
All is knot-free and split to follow the grain, main stems only.

 

[mr dazzler]

my best advice would be don't pinch anyones wood from anywhere no matter how tempting it may be. In my experience tree surgeons are your best bet. Plenty of times I've scored ash/beech/willow/alder/chestnut/oak/hazel and other rarer stuff such as cedar, eucalyptus or elm from those guys. For example I came across 2 guys that were pollarding some large old crack willow that was on the roadside and become dangerous (5 and 6 inch diameter poles that had started to fall off into the road) They were about to chipper around 2 or 3 ton of fresh willow. I said look, I'll take it off your hands. I returned an hour later with my trailer and gave them £20 for their time...They went home early from work, and still got paid for chippering, everyone a winner!

 

[Wayne]

It is theft. If I catch someone stealing from my woods I will call the police and insist that the thief is charged.

How would you like me to help myself to your garden plants?

Dead wood is not waste its a valuable habitat and if its not your wood then it doesnt belong to you.

I cannot understand why thats a difficult concept for people to grasp.

 

[baggins]

As a tree surgeon, we do a lot of local authority work. The lads never have any problem if somebody asks for a couple of logs or branches (as long as somebody asks nicely). For bigger loads, they more than often oblige (for a small price). But it's always nice to get a beer or two out of our hard work.
Keep an eye out at the moment for you local tree gangs, we're still doing clear ups from the recent spate of storms.

 

[Broch]

It is theft. If I catch someone stealing from my woods I will call the police and insist that the thief is charged.

How would you like me to help myself to your garden plants?

Dead wood is not waste its a valuable habitat and if its not your wood then it doesnt belong to you.

I cannot understand why thats a difficult concept for people to grasp.

I agree with you Wayne but to be fair to the OP he did say he was talking about council land and, I think, to a lot of people it's not obvious when it comes to non-private land. However, public land is not the same as common land and, even if it was, he would have to have commoner's rights to collect wood.

For clarity, there is no right to collect wood on public or private land without permission. In the case of public or forestry land that often requires a license and a fee. Estover rights are few and far between in the UK as far as I'm aware.

 

[mr dazzler]

Train your dog to carry the wood...and not chew it too much

Maybe someone could create a new dog breed, the "timber retriever"

 

[Onelifeoverland]

Just for the record and for everyone that's getting on their high horse. I never said I take any. I said I asked Cardiff Council if it was allowed. And it is certainly not a difficult concept to grasp, hence my seeking permission in the first instance as per original post! It was the council that implied I could take without permission, not I.

Thanks all for opinions and advice so far. Interesting to hear from people with differing views, especially around legal sourcing and taking from public, common, private land too.

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[mr dazzler]

No one getting on a high horse, you axed for advice and got it .

 

[Janne]

You wrote ‘green wood’ and also ‘deadwood’ in your initial post.
I do not think anybody with one brain cell would stop you if you carried home a piece of a dead branch.
But green wood, that is another matter. Taking that is a big no-no.

Personally I always collected wood in UK when I had the opportunity to
get it straight from the person that was working there.
Usually driving to or from work. I just asked, was never refused.
On the odd occasion I glimpsed a piece I really, really wanted, and after some ‘coin exchange’ got it.

Always worked.

 

[Onelifeoverland]

You wrote ‘green wood’ and also ‘deadwood’ in your initial post.

Always worked.

Fair point. I think in the context of what I was trying to ask I meant: -

Deadwood = anything no longer attached to a living tree, and;

Greenwood = anything no longer attached to a living tree but detached itself so recently so as not to be dead/rotten yet.

Just to be clear I did not mean greenwood as in I'm going in with axe and saw to play lumberjack!



www.onelifeoverland.com

 

[santaman2000]

I sympathize. However I’m in a different situation. One of the largest forest areas here (Eglin Air Force Base) sells permits for $10 to cut a quarter chord of scrub oak for personal use as firewood. Many State and/or national forests have similar policies and prices.

 

[Janne]

Does that oak have a nice grain?

 

[santaman2000]

No. It’s called “scrub” oak for a reason. Not much good for timber and by comparison to other oaks not much of a mast crop. Most of the species listed as scrub oak are turkey oak, live oak, etc.

 

[Laurentius]

It all does belong to someone. At the end of the day it is about proportion and being sensible. If only a few people pick up dead wood it is not a problem, if it became very popular it would start to have an effect on the environment. In the past in my younger days I have done it, used to go out on what I thought was common land foraging for wood when I had an open fire, and I just assumed it was my right. However I think those rights were probably extinguished long before I was born.

I confess though that I have done worse in my latter days, as I haven't taken anything from the land, I have just taken the land itself, not that the Council don't know about as they are currently quite content to have somebody managing it when they don't have the resources to themselves.

 

[demographic]

Used to be that you could pay a small amount to get some kind of permission from the Forestry commission to collect wood thats been felled to allow the better trees to grow to full height.
Used to be very cheap from what my mate told me.