Locating and Harvesting Fatwood

One of the best things about living in the Rocky Mountains is there is no shortage of fire starting materials. If you consider the massive wildfires that burn every year, the evidence is obvious; all one big tinder bundle. The vast expanses of timbered country serve a plethora of evergreens that offer us resources to be utilized in an emergency or for future use. The region I will focus on, in this post, is east of the Continental Divide in the Pioneer Mountains.

Torrey and Tweedy Mountains.

On the east side of the divide of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, we are in the "rain shadow" and many of our evergreens are efficient with their water use, except for Rocky Mountain juniper. I live at about a mile in elevation, so when I say lower elevation, I am talking about 5000-6500 feet, higher elevation is 6500-8000 feet. I list Engelmann spruce twice because it can be found throughout the low to high montane conifer/taiga forest in my neck of the woods. The species of conifers (cone-bearing trees) or evergreens that make their home here are: 

• Lower montane (lower elevation) conifers
• Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) 
• Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) 
• Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperous scopulorum)
• Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii)

• Subalpine (high elevation) conifers
•  Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa)
• Limber pine (Pinus flexilis)
• Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis)
• Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanii)

With exploration through the forest, in both lower montane to subalpine areas, the key thing I look for is dead-standing or down trees. As the conifers die, important water and nutrients flowing up and down the cambium or living inner bark stop moving and gravity pulls the resin, pitch, or sap down towards the roots. As you can see in this forest, beetle kill has really done a number on our trees. CAUTION: BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL AND AWARE OF POSSIBLE SNAGS AND WIDOW-MAKERS WHEN TRAMPING THROUGH DEAD-STANDING TIMBER.

Down trees are a good bet you can find fatwood. The root balls generally contain a great deal of fatwood as the resin sinks back down, it saturates the lower wood and roots.

Tree resin contains terpenes, which turpentine comes from, and helps preserve and waterproof the wood that becomes saturated. These preserved roots are a good indicator these trees contain fatwood. I use the poll (butt) end of my axe to knock and listen for dense, hard sounds on prospective wood.

I should have brought a saw because saws make clean cuts but in a pinch you can pry the wood off or in this case I used the poll end of my axe to smash a large chunk off.

After shaving the wood down, notice the shiney yellow-orange coloration. It should smell heavily of resin.

Using the back of my knife, I scraped of a bunch of shavings for a test fire.

After a couple of scrapes from my ferro rod, I had fire.

After successful ignition, I harvested quite a bit more.

The bright yellow-orange coloration is a dead give away. Subalpine fir and most fir trees contain lots of useful resin.