Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[soapdragon]

OH has just bought a Weber barbecue and can use beech in it for a smoky effect. OH and ES went to the local beech woods last weekend and came home with about half a doz small ish branches which they had just found lying around. I was mortified that they had just gone and picked up the stuff but, apparently OH and his parents used to do this on a much larger scale when he was younger as they had an open fire. They only EVER collected fallen wood and, of course, NEVER did any damage.

 

This did set me thinking tho; are there actually any laws regarding the collection of fallen wood? I suppose its possible that 'commoners' still have rights regarding collecting such wood as, I think, they did for wood under a certain diameter during the Middle Ages?

 

Any thoughts on this, oh wise ones?

[The Dogmother]

I don't know about any actual laws, but I would have thought that if the woods are for public access, then fallen wood could be wombled, but none cut. Obviously if the woods are on private property, then it would be best to ask permission first.

[Space Chick]

I'd agree with DM.

 

We have woodland behind our house which we don't own but is a designated walkway (although privately owned).

 

Hubby always Wombles fallen wood from there. "Ooops, word censored!"ody has ever said anything. Although we would NEVER cut any wood.

[Geoid]

Technically, you are committing theft. The wood belongs to whoever owns the land the tree grows on.

[Olly]

In Epping Forest, where I live, there are bye-laws which prohibit taking any wood and that is true for most woodland and Forestry Commission sites.

[Snowy]

We normally camp on sites where you can make fires and we also use a woodburning stove in out tent. We find that many sites discourage collecting fallen wood as it is a habitat for insect life and encourages a healthy woodland floor. We have to buy logs to burn.

[The Dogmother]

We normally camp on sites where you can make fires and we also use a woodburning stove in out tent. We find that many sites discourage collecting fallen wood as it is a habitat for insect life and encourages a healthy woodland floor. We have to buy logs to burn.

 

The National Herb Centre near us doesn't have any camping, but they tend to stack up and leave wood for the critters to make their homes in.

[Charlottechicken]

I thought that foraging for wood had recently (as in the past few years) been made illegal

[soapdragon]

What a can of worms!

[Olly]

Not at all, I think it's an interesting question! I have just found what purports to be a copy of the Epping Forest Byelaws online (it's very short so I don't think it's the whole works) and they say that you must not remove any wood except loose deadwood of which no piece should exceed 5cm in diameter and 91 cm in length. So I'm guessing if you picked up a stick for the dog, or a few bits of kindling you would be ok. Understandably they don't want people carrying off whole logs/trees.

 

I know that dead wood is an important habitat for invertebrates such as the stag beetle, and for a lot of fungi and lichens. On the other hand, it is part of forestry management to remove or coppice trees at intervals, and usually a large part of that timber would be removed. If you need wood, take a look at the 'wood wombling' threads on Self Sufficient Life - I get most of mine from skips/contacts/random knocks on the door!

[Cinnamon]

You all need to be married to a window fitter - we have more wood than we know what to do with, despite 3 log burners

[majorbloodnock]

It strikes me that there are two separate questions here; whether or not it's legal and whether or not it's a good thing to do.

 

Legally, I think this is pretty straightforward. All land belongs to someone, and so do the trees that grow there, along with any wood that falls from them.If you're not that someone and you take the wood, you're stealing unless, of course, you've been given permission by the owner to do so. In practice, the owner may well choose to turn a blind eye to it (and in many cases probably will).

 

This is all the more clear cut if you're on a footpath or bridleway through some woods (that don't have some wider "right to roam" agreement covering them), since if you stray from the path to pick up the branches, you're trespassing on private land, and it's no different legally to going into someone's garden and picking up stuff on their lawn.

 

Whether or not it's a good thing is perhaps a bit more convoluted. As has already been mentioned, rotting dead wood is an important habitat housing many woodland species, so clearing all fallen wood would be disastrous. However, the odd branch here and there going missing would have pretty much no effect whatsoever, and clearing a few existing tracks could be beneficial, so the practical point here is about moderation. Unfortunately, not every visitor to the countryside can be trusted to show such moderation, hence the need to enforce the law sometimes. There's no right answer, but I'd suggest very few will see it as immoral to pick up a branch or two when out walking so long as it's not on a significant scale.

 

One other point, though, is that when branches fall, it doesn't take long before they start to rot. Burn them then and you're not only chucking wood onto your barbecue, but also any fungi that have taken hold. Is toadstool smoke OK to cook your food in? I've no idea, but I'm not sure I'd want to experiment. Therefore, if you choose to harvest a bit of fallen wood, I'd suggest you only use freshly fallen stuff for culinary purposes.