Page 14 - Sonoma County Gazette February 2017

14 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 2/17
WOODcont’d on page 15
By Scott Salveson, Director of the National Firewood Association
The National Firewood Association (NFA) gives rewood a positive voice in
the public sphere.
It’s easy to feel good about burning wood. Burned locally, using proper
techniques in an e cient stove, rewood is an eco-friendly fuel that’s renewable, inexpensive and abundant in many areas. It has a place in contemporary discussions about alternative fuels and renewable resources. And it has a rich history of saving lives when all else had failed.
Little in this world is as dependable and useful as rewood. Yet it is constantly under attack as being antiquated, irrelevant – a nuisance, if not a health hazard.
Someone ought to do something
Nearly every conversation about burning wood begins with charges of air pollution and the environmental impacts of logging. Yet, experienced wood burners know that wood burns more e ciently without smoke and we have seen the remarkable results of a properly managed forest.
Firewood is typically harvested and produced within an hour’s drive from where it’s burned. No tanker ships, no pipelines. That alone gives it a head-start on environmental responsibility. It also stimulates your local economy. Even those who cut their own wood still need chainsaws and service, a chimney sweep, or a new stove – and lots of groceries.
The problem is that there is no recognized, uni ed voice to speak on behalf of rewood or defend it legislatively. It is at a signi cant disadvantage in representation when pitted against any other fuel, including wind or solar.
With no big corporations supporting it, rewood is vulnerable.
The NFA speaks for rewood
As of November 2016, there are 13 bills speci cally mentioning rewood before the United States Congress today. At the state level, 58 bills concerning rewood are under review. Further restrictions on burning, transport and storage crop up every year in local government actions across the country.
Firewood as a whole may never come under direct attack. However, it is evident that without representation, rewood is extremely vulnerable to “death by 1000 cuts” as state and local governments patch together a confusing web of varying restrictions and regulations.
In response, the NFAs “Burn Wood, Feel Good” campaign is designed to highlight the good news about rewood, educating the public on rewood’s positive attributes.
The NFA messages also o er solutions. It is our contention that misguided practices by inexperienced or ill-informed wood burners are the single largest cause of problems and complaints about burning wood. Our program will deliver basic educational messages targeted at helping the public understand the problems and solutions.
A short list: of common errors to be addressed: Burning unseasoned wood, not knowing when/how to regulate the draft on the stove, shoddy installation, substandard chimneys, etc. That’s without mentioning safety, a favorite topic of the insurance industry. We also address the lamentable lack of professionalism in the marketplace that often results in short loads of poor- quality rewood.
The most important thing to understand is that these problems will continue no matter how many regulations are placed on wood stoves. The NFA is the only organization focused on the proper use of the fuel itself.