online to discuss the challenges their banks face and how Forest Service funding can help them better serve low-income households in their communities.
This was the first time that many of the funded firewood banks met the heads of other banks and realized that they were part of a much larger national network.
The meeting was convened by the Alliance for Green Heat and featured a short talk by Brian Brashaw, Assistant Director for Wood Innovations at the US Forest Service, who are providing the funding for this program.
The purpose of the meeting was to explore how firewood banks can support one another and share information that would help other banks.
During the meeting, bank leaders described a wide variety of organizations and activities, not all of which were even called “firewood banks.” The underlying commonality is that they all provided free firewood to needy households. Beyond that, the differences may be greater than the similarities. Several tribes ran operations that resembled a small firewood utility, an entity responsible for delivering heating fuel throughout the winter. Other banks only provided firewood on an emergency basis, when a household ran out of all other fuel. Another bank served families who had gone through a rigorous eligibility screening process run by a state-supported agency and who could also receive LIHEAP benefits.
The way in which each firewood bank procures wood is as diverse as their geographic locations. From simple plans like receiving donations from downed trees on town streets to working with loggers thinning forests at risk of wildfire. One bank serving tribal homes had equipment and staffing to process 7 cords an hour. At the other end of the spectrum were small banks who were able to stop splitting wood by hand and use hydraulic splitters with this year’s funding. Obtaining wood becomes its own case study as the public-private-community lines intersect.
As firewood bank leaders shared their stories, we were reminded of how critical wood heating and access to firewood is for some households. Robin, with the Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative (OLCERI), shared with us that on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota where OLCERI operates, housing is “woefully inadequate for the cold,” and that “people literally die in their homes every year, they’re freezing to death.” Providing wood for their community is a lifesaving action. For as many “thank yous” that we received from the firewood banks during the meeting, a thousand “thank yous” are owed back to them for doing their incredible work.
One conclusion based on this year's funding is that there may be far more wood banks than anyone realized and there is no easy way to reach them. Wood banks emerge from churches, tribes, non-profits, town and county offices because it is the cheapest way to provide heating fuel to homes, and households heating with wood are not well-served by federal and state low-income heating programs. For some firewood banks, providing wood for heating is a service they have offered in the last decade while others, like the Nez Perce tribe, have long relied on and supplied wood to their community. Howard Teasley Jr., Director of the Forestry and Fire Management Division of the Nez Perce Tribe, shared that they have “dealt with fuel wood since life immemorial,” serving around 350-400 homes per year.
Map showing the location of firewood banks funded in this cycle.
Yellow represents faith-based banks, purple represents tribal banks,
and green represents non-profit banks.
While all these firewood banks provide free firewood, like food banks, each one is distinctive. One bank provides firewood to people with terminal illnesses who have run out of money. Some provide multiple deliveries to each house through the winter, while others just provide a single delivery. Some firewood banks take steps to verify heating needs before delivering wood while others approach distribution with a no-questions policy. If someone says they need it, they give it.
Other stakeholders working with firewood banks attended the meeting including Larry Brockman of the EPA's Burnwise program, Clarisse Hart of the Harvard Forest, Jessica Leahy of the University of Maine, Sean Mahoney from the State of Massachussetts and others.
The $590,000 for first year grants is going to 47 banks and applications for this year are now closed. Congress provided funding for a 5-year period and the Alliance for Green Heat expects to announce updated criteria for the second-year funding cycle in the spring.
To stay up-to-date on when the next funding becomes available, sign up for updates at the bottom of this page.
Further Information:
- USDA Funding Flows to Firewood Banks (January 4th, 2023)
- Firewood Bank Resources (2022)
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