On June 23, crew members from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Day Worker Program, along with SRPMIC Environmental Protection and Natural Resources (EPNR) staff, unloaded a cord of firewood from a pickup truck at the Senior Center. The seniors will end up using the wood for cooking and planned events at the center.

A cord is a measurement by which firewood is sold or bundled. How much wood in a cord depends on the size of the wood. According to http://almanac.com, it takes about 50 trees that are 4 inches in diameter, 10 trees that are 8 inches in diameter, or three trees that are 14 inches in diameter to make a cord of wood.

The firewood was mesquite, and it came from the SRPMIC Public Works landscape crews. On a regular basis, they will remove trees that have either fallen over or have become a problem in the landscaped areas around Community buildings.

Salt River Police Department Rangers will cut up firewood that isn’t already in fireplace-sized pieces.

“We had a lot of positive responses from the elders at the Senior Center while unloading [the firewood],” said SRPMIC Senior Environmental Specialist (Range Management) Brian Gewecke.