BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 10, 2024
Maine has a lot of trees and a lot of people who can’t afford firewood to heat their homes. It’s not always easy to connect the two. Groups of Mainers are trying to do just that by opening volunteer-run “wood banks” that operate like food pantries by offering free firewood to people as temporary fuel assistance. If the Maine Wood Bank Network reaches its goals, it will meet a clear statewide need for help to heat homes. About 10 percent of Maine households, or nearly 56,000 homes, use wood as their main source of heat. That’s up from 4 percent in 2015. Twenty-one percent of homes burn wood as a backup source of heat.