My choices are spruce. white birch, and aspen, tho there are cottonwoods in places. Birch is a hardwood, so is the best if properly dried a year or three - the rest are softwoods. Spruce is more prominent tho, and more used, just keeping up with the dead.Aspen isn't really worth cutting for firewood, but sometimes some have to come down, and is used. (I have heard that once dried, aspen logs make excellent sauna buildings)
The beetles are hammering spruce into standing dead, which need removal around the two yards I have here. Home yard is mostly cleaned up, the rental property has a over a dozen big dead trees yet to come down next summer - already took several cords of the most dangerous ones down to my local rec cabin - the only place still using wood. I'm good for about 5 years there already. I'll probably give the remainder away for the cutting and cleanup, if I can even find someone to do it - at least those trees not within falling reach of the unit. Not that I don't trust any Joe with a saw.....
I haven't surveyed the 6 acre vacant lot yet, but I'm sure there's some there also. Not critical at all. Woodpeckers need to eat too.
I'm so far behind at the Interior remote cabin, there are at least a dozen spruce blow downs- big ones - rotting away on the ground within carry distance to the cabin.
Some I trimmed and peeled several years ago to slow the rot if they weren't actually laying on the ground.
The whole damned valley burned up this summer, so I may need them yet!
