State working on home heating issues
MONTPELIER, Vt. --Fearful that some Vermonters will be left in the cold, the state is gearing up to expand a pair of do-it-yourself programs aimed at turning trees into home heat, officials said Monday.
Under the "Wood Warms" initiative, split firewood would be made available to low- and middle-income people under a voucher system, and small lots in state forests would be tagged for cut-your-own operations, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
"We're scratching around for anything that will burn, whatever we can," said Jonathan Wood, commissioner of the state Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
The program, which has existed for years, is among the assistance initiatives being planned by the state amid fears that the rising cost of home heating fuels will force some people into making heat-or-eat choices this winter. On Monday, state Transportation Secretary Neale Lunderville joined with state Rep. Martha Heath and state Sen. Susan Bartlett to outline the efforts in a Statehouse briefing.
"The problem is that people are referring to this as Vermont's Katrina," said Tom Tailer, of Essex, a representative of newly-formed non-profit Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative, which is pushing wood pellet stoves as a heating alternative. "You will see people die this winter in Vermont from the cold," he told the lawmakers.
The do-it-yourself programs, however, are longer term ones that may not help this winter, since freshly cut wood may not be dry enough to burn for heat, Lunderville said.
"Wood Warms" has two elements:
--Roadside lots: The state has identified 50 lots -- on state lands, or in state forests -- accessible by pickup truck for people willing and able to cut their own firewood.
"There are certainly a lot of people who are capable of cutting firewood, who just need access," said Wood. "There'll probably be more demand than we can meet."
--"Firewood concentration yards": Locations where loggers could place cut firewood for pickup by people who have obtained vouchers from the state. The wood would be placed in yards -- probably at state Agency of Transportation garages.
The state Division of Children and Families is working with community action agencies to draw up eligibility criteria, Lunderville said.
Wood said both ideas have been used by the state before, but that both are being expanded now.
"This isn't just a one-year thing. The need for firewood is probably going to be around for a while. We have a lot of wood and there's a lot of people who use it for fuel," he said. 