'They might not share those stories with you, but their wives will,' said J.D. Engle, a local fireplace salesman.

Buying wood isn't a bad alternative, Engle said, but it's easy to get burned in the pocketbook by purchasing wood too green to burn or too wet from being left out in the open. The economics of wood burning compared to other heating sources also need to be debated.

'Typically, a 2,000-square-foot house with modern insulation with wood for its sole source of heating will take four to six cords (per winter),' Engle said.

The going rate for cord wood blocked and delivered is about $100. The price jumps $15 or more for chopped wood. Those prices raise the cost of home-heating with wood to about $550, compared to $390 for natural gas.

A cord is generally equal to 128 cubic feet, and measured as 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high.

Firewood advocates argue proudly of their ability to stretch a cord and still keep the home fires burning.

Wood stoves are also making a comeback among homeowners worried about the year 2000 computer crisis and what it might mean to their gas and electric supply.

Yet, not all wood that costs the same, burns the same, Engle said.

'Everybody believes wood is wood and it's like lambs to the market,' he said. 'If it's cut late in the season from standing green timber, it's not going to be ready until next season. It will be sooty. It smokes. That popping and cracking you hear is steam exploding in the wood.'

Businesses that sell fireplaces sometimes sell hand-held meters for measuring firewood moisture. A one-inch spike pokes from the front of the device. The spike delivers a measurable current of electricity through the firewood. The stronger the current, the more water present in the wood. Check the wood for cracks, which can be due to splitting during the drying process.

Standing dead wood cut recently from the forest can make dry firewood because it doesn't get exposed to the kind of surface water absorbed by fallen timber. But standing deadfall can also be rotten on the inside and won't burn well.

Green wood should be stacked in a dry place for at least a year with plenty of cracks between logs for breathing room, Engle said.

National Forest spokeswoman Jan Lerum said anyone can cut firewood in the Gallatin National Forest for a minimum $15 for two cords of wood or $75 for a maximum 10 cords.

'Right now in the Bozeman area it is prohibited to cut wood in any developed campground area or active timber sale,' Larum said. 'We don't send people to any particular place. It's kind of fend for yourself.'

Woodcutters need to stay 100 feet away from running water and 25 feet from seasonal water, like wet or dry bogs and dry canals or stream beds.

Forest logs have to be cut no longer than 6 feet. Stumps left behind can be no taller than 6 inches on the uphill side. Slash piles have to be removed from trails and roadsides.

In the Bozeman area, cutting permits are sold at Owenhouse Ace Hardware, Gibson's Discount Center, Gateway Exxon Market in Gallatin Gateway and Lee and Dad's IGA in Belgrade.

There are alternatives to firewood cut from national forests. Private landowners often sell or give away cottonwood. Cottonwood is thirsty and dense. It's easiest cut when frozen and nearly impossible thawed. Wet cottonwood produces a lot of soot and tends to smolder. Allowed to dry for a year and a half, it is a hot-burning fuel.

Log home builders make good firewood sources because their logs are dried to building specifications. Log ends peeled or unpeeled are usually 7 inches to 12 inches in diameter. They range from a foot to 15 inches in length. Some cuts are longer. But log home builders don't deliver like professional firewood cutters and the wood isn't chopped.

Bridger Mountain Log Homes Inc. of Belgrade sells its log ends for $70 a cord. Thelma Young, who runs the business with her husband, Stan, said the log ends come from standing dried log timbers and have a low moisture content of 15 percent or less. The ends have to be loaded weekdays between 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Calling ahead is a good idea when buying wood from log home builders.

The worst time to buy wood is when temperatures dive and the market becomes flooded with buyers who put off purchasing firewood. A market flooded with buyers is also most likely to be flooded with green wood.