Is it allowed to take some wood from a private forest or from the forest that just lies on the ground?
Basically no.
District
– Many people are afraid of not being able to pay their energy costs anymore.
This gives some stove owners the idea of collecting wood from the forest.
Is that actually allowed?
Forest owner board member Johann Killer and forest manager Wilhelm Seerieder clarify: There are clear rules.
Johann Killer from Sauerlach is not a person who talks long and hard about a topic.
He gets straight to the point: “No wood may be collected in private forests.
Not even an Asterl.” At least that's the rule.
But there are exceptions - if you ask nicely.
"Anyone who wants to take wood from a forest should simply talk to the forest owner beforehand," says the tree expert and farmer.
Big problem for the foresters
Wood theft in the forest, in some areas in Germany this is becoming a big problem for forest owners and foresters.
Because of the sharp increase in the price of heating oil and natural gas, heating with firewood is experiencing a renaissance.
But the firewood prices have also risen sharply compared to the previous year: A star in the region, i.e. a cubic meter with stacked logs, costs around 200 euros.
On the Internet, beech wood with delivery is even offered for just under 400 euros.
The record prices tempt stove owners to collect firewood themselves in the forest.
No run on the wood yet
"I haven't noticed any run on the wood in my forest yet," says Killer.
It is also not an issue at the meetings of the forest owners.
Killer, 61, 45 years of forest experience, is head of the forest owners' association in Wolfratshausen.
The association has 1,500 members, and its area extends from the southern outskirts of Munich to the Austrian border – an area of 25,000 hectares.
As different as the forest owners are, so are their opinions on visitors who collect a few branches.
"When I see someone collecting wood in my forest, I calmly ask him: 'What are you doing there?'" Killer says that other forest owners are more grim.
"They say: 'Sneak out of my forest'".
Simply talking to each other, forest owner Killer thinks that is the best solution.
Special rules apply in the forest
Wilhelm Seerieder, 62, head of the forestry company in Munich thinks the same way.
It is important to ask the owner, because who knows what is state forest and what is private forest;
after all, different rules prevail in the forest.
If you now hope that you can just walk in here and pick up wood, you've made a mistake.
You need permission from the district manager for this – and the local forest rangers don’t give that.
The reason is soil fertility.
Many forests in the region, such as the Forstenrieder Park, are located in the so-called Munich gravel plain, the ground here is only half a meter deep - underneath is gravel from the Ice Age.
The trees cannot root deeply and are therefore dependent on nutrients from above.
"The supply of nutrients through deadwood or deciduous wood is extremely important here," says Plant Manager Seerieder.
In particular, narrow trunks and branches up to eight centimeters thick are vital for the forest ecosystem because they disintegrate and fall to the ground.
Wooden club as a dumbbell
Much of this important reading wood has been stolen from the forest since energy prices have skyrocketed, says Seerieder.
"Our district managers often make observations." A few days ago, he saw a runner in the forest using two strong wooden clubs as dumbbells.
When the man got to his car, he loaded the wood and drove away with it.
"Of course I won't say anything," said the manager.
But if someone loads their car with wood, that's classic wood theft, says Seerieder.
"Then you have to reckon with an ad." The forester prefers to refer to the state-owned company's chainsaw courses: After the course, those who are interested can become so-called small self-advertisers.
They are assigned a leftover crown in the forest from district managers, which you can saw up and take home.
"That's nice, good firewood."
Some things no longer have any calorific value
Quite different from Klaubholz - it usually has no significant calorific value.
Forest owner board member Johann Killer points to a pile of branches and broken trunks in his forest in Sauerlach.
"Branches in contact with the ground rot quickly," he says.
Killer starts his chainsaw and saws through an oak trunk.
"The outside is the sapwood, it's full of water." At least the heartwood is good, but it has to be dried for two to three years before it can be used as firewood.
"And the beech here," says Killer, "has no more calorific value".
Wood collectors can save themselves the work with it.
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Simply pick up wood in the forest.
That's not possible, explains forest manager Wilhelm Seerieder.
© brouczek
