BurnDates

Stocking the woodpile?

The other half of the burning question is the wood itself — what a cord of each species is actually worth, and why the wood should come from close to home. Firewood BTU chart — heat per seasoned cord for 41 species, from the university extension tables. The best firewood to burn — for heat, for the fireplace, and the short list to never burn at all.

Camping out there too?

Free dispersed camping runs on rules that change forest to forest — how long you can stay, how far from the water, which roads allow it, and whether tonight's fire is even legal.

Burning on public land?

County rules stop at the national forest boundary. Rangers set their own fire orders there, and they change faster than the county's. Fire restrictions by national forest — the current stage for 30 forests across the West. What stage 1 and stage 2 mean — what you can still light, and what closes the gate entirely. Where our answers come from — the agency behind each state, and what we do when we can't reach one.