Baloo of post falls, ID Country's comments are valuable indeed. In Idaho you can see the long term results of industrial extraction. This area contains massive superfund sites from mining and barren hills from logging. Sure, there are still some nice areas left, but you have to look for them. Just don't look too closely beyond the surface - it is not always as pretty as it seems.

I am a strong proponent of wood pellets, yet the best pellet (from an ash and pollutants perspective) is made from the wood fiber, not the bark or limbs. It is important to leave something behind for future forests to build on. Using all of the tree is not the best answer. Do I have the ultimate solution? No. But at this time, with the planetary environment being near a tipping point, it is important to proceed with caution.

Having said that, any form of bio-fuel seems to be better than any form of fossil fuel.report abuse

Country of Waldoboro, ME If all the "leftovers", or residue, from woodcutting is taken, then a source of future nutrients to the forest soil will have been lost. While the unintended consequences of this may take a generation or two to be seen, they will happen. Forest soil fertility will suffer and, since the cycle of forest soil fertility is long, the effects of this are hard to know.

This should be given careful thought before going too far, and too quickly. Maine forests are our greatest indigenous energy resource, as well as a substantial part of Maine's overall economy, and we better take care of them.report abuse