rights to collect dead wood

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rights to collect dead wood
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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46347
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 06 10:10 pm Post subject:
sounds good

jamsam

Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 06 10:24 pm Post subject:
i was wondering about this..i saw a beautiful peice of oak in a woodland park, i think the terr had disease and was felled, but the peices were stacked up ready to be moved..i nearly 'wandered off' with it!!

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 06 9:00 am Post subject:
A large amount of wood is left on purpose these days for the multitude of animals that live and feed in it. I would certainly check with the owner first. One thing I've wondered is your right to collect wood from the side of the road, you often find quite large branches after a storm and it seems like you are doing the council a favour by collecting it.

MarkS

Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2626

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 06 9:42 am Post subject:

My in-laws live in the ashdown forest and they get 'foresters rights' they pay something like �20/year and are allowed to cut down and remove trees which have been marked by the foresters.

Theres some dispute at the moment though because they are in one part of a converted mansion and there is debate about whether the rights apply to all the occupants or if there is one right for the entire estate.

skedone

Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 351
Location: essex inbetween a blue bit and a green bit

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 06 10:24 am Post subject:
i say just ask as i did and am glad i did now one of my local woods has a old wood mill in it and when the fell trees that pile the wood up in planks or fire blocks and there free to anyone i found out after asking now my mates fireplace has wood all the time its one a 2min walk from his front door

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 06 10:30 am Post subject:
May I take the opportunity to thank you guys for this topic? I knew none of this, its been most informative.

clare kendall

Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 3

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 13 3:53 pm Post subject:

I know this is quite an old thread but I thought I would post here for posterity!
Can I firstly say, that no matter what people will try and tell you about ancient rights, there is no such law allowing the public to forage for wood.
There are a few exceptions where individuals have forest rights but if that's the case you will certainly know about it.
All forests are owned by someone, even if it's just the council. It's also worth remembering that all forests are managed and that by removing wood you may, inadvertantly, be hindering the work of conservationists so it's vital to make sure that you're not only legally allowed to forage on a particular piece of land but that it's in an area where local forest managers feel it's not going to have a damaging impact.
The way to find out about foraging is to contact your local forestry commission office and ask them if brushwood permits are available for anywhere in your area.
In the area where I live I recently paid �36 for a two year license which allows me to take smallish pieces of fallen wood. (no bigger than 3 inches wide or three foot long).
This means that it will work fine if you're just feeding your own log burner but wouldn't if anyone wanted to turn it into a commercial exercise.
The wood where I forage is near to where I live so I stockpile, when I'm driving through, throughout the summer, saw in the late summer/early Autumn and generally have enough to see me through the winter.(supplemented by a few skip finds - only taken with permission!)
The wood burner is the only form of heating I have so it's a great way of reducing my fuel costs and my carbon footprint.

Mr O

Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 13 4:50 pm Post subject:
Welcome Clair where abouts are you?

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 13 6:47 pm Post subject:
That's interesting Clare, thanks for that...and welcome.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16093

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 13 7:31 am Post subject:

As a woodland owner that also manages our wood and uses the timber and wood for firewood and charcoal making, I think this is a useful post. So many people don't read the signs we put up which tell them that we don't want them to take the wood and although the signs are big enough, they still don't think anyone owns the land, or if they do 'it must be the council and we have the right to take anything we like'.

I have never had to point out to someone that it is theft, but would if necessary. The worst case we had was when someone cut a tree down and were starting to saw it up. As it was a willow, it wouldn't have done them much good for a couple of years anyway, but they knew they shouldn't have been doing it, as it got left halfway through a saw cut, so we assume someone saw them.

clare kendall

Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 3

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 13 1:28 pm Post subject:

And the really sad thing is that people like that give all foragers a bad name meaning that permits are harder to come by and more limited. You give some people an inch and they take a yard.

Hello Mr O, I'm a long way from Canada I'm afraid! I live in Wiltshire in the UK.
I meant to add to the above post that it's always worth approaching private landowners too. I know a few people who have got permission from privately owned estates to do a similar kind of low impact wood collecting.
If you can show yourself to be well-informed,responsible and not too greedy most landlords are quite reasonable.

Happy foraging!

clare kendall

Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 3

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 13 1:30 pm Post subject:
And finally... It's also worth befriending a local ranger (maybe doing a bit of voluntary work in return) as they sometimes have smaller logs to dispose of and are happy to leave them for you.

Mr O

Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 13 5:19 pm Post subject:

clare kendall wrote:

I'm a long way from Canada I'm afraid! I live in Wiltshire in the UK.

I used to know a Clair Kendall from Coventry, only reason I asked.

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 13 6:10 pm Post subject:
Hello Clare

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16093

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 13 7:47 am Post subject:

I would go along with the voluntary work idea. Quite often cutting is done for conservation and there is nowhere to dispose of the wood. It is usually left; some for 'habitat piles', but some could easily be used by the volunteers. Worth asking. Remember in the bad old days when the only coppicing was being done by FoE and like groups, having a discussion with one of them at lunch time at work, and him telling me they just had to leave all the cut wood and timber as nobody wanted it.

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