Heat, Health, and Community in Southern Utah

“A Fire Going Means Someone Is Home”

Map of Utah showing federal land and firewood bank site visits marked in the southeast with dark grey map markers.

In late April, AGH staff visited three firewood banks in southern Utah that received grant

funds in the most recent grant cycle of the Firewood Bank Assistance Program. All three serve households on the Utah Navajo Nation. Each grantee has a unique base institution for their firewood bank: a sawmill, a nonprofit health clinic, and a family-run nonprofit.

In the northernmost location, I visited with the owners of Brandt Services, and the main volunteers of their adjacent non-profit, Warm Hearths. Since 1984, Wendy and Jeff Brandt have been cutting firewood in Monticello, Utah. What began at first as a firewood business to help make ends meet quickly became a mission to get wood to elders’ homes that either couldn’t afford it or were physically unable to process their own firewood. From there, the operation evolved into an established firewood business in 2006 and then a registered sawmill in 2019. While this happened, they continued serving their community with free firewood when households needed it and when unmerchantable wood supplies allowed. While coordinating with entities like the State of Utah, the Ute Tribe, and Navajo Ministries, the duo makes up the entirety of the personnel associated with processing and distribution for the wood bank. They process about 160 cords of wood a year for 160 homes in the Four Corners area. 

Left: Darian Dyer, AGH Deputy Director, Wendy, and Jeff. Right: Part of the Brandt Services/Warm Hearths wood lot with the La Sal Mountains in the background.

Warm Hearths has received a total of $60,000 from the Firewood Bank Assistance Program, spread across three grant cycles. Through the program, they’ve been able to purchase big-ticket items like truckloads of logs from the San Juan National Forest, Conex containers for wood and equipment storage, a loader arm attachment for their wood bank tractor, a log splitter, and a chainsaw. They are also a part of the Firewood Community Safety Initiative, helping educate on better burning techniques for the safety of their recipients and the wider wood burning community.

Left: Wide shot of the wood lot, including Conex storage containers and log splitter purchased with grant funds. Right: Jeff and Wendy hold up their Firewood Community Safety Initiative banner that they just received in the mail.

Moving south to Montezuma Creek, I stopped in at the Utah Navajo Health System (UNHS) Firewood Bank. UNHS's firewood bank explicitly makes the link between health and heat. Patients coming in to be seen might have chronic issues that stem directly from their lack of seasoned heating fuel. The UNHS Firewood bank is new to the Firewood Bank Assistance Program this year and received $28,000 which went towards purchasing things such as a dump trailer, a carport for wood seasoning, and a skid steer attachment to help process logs. The San Juan Wood For Life crew helps coordinate their main source of wood on top of connecting them with third parties to lengthen the reach of the wood bank in the area. Shundean Begay (Community Outreach Coordinator), Stephanie Singer (Program Development/Grant Manager), and Cedrick run the program with Shundean doing everything from public relations to handling applications (as well as wood processing in the high season!) and Cedrick devoting his time to wood

Cedrick, Darian, and Shundean in front of the firewood bank's Cord King firewood processor

processing. When completing deliveries to homes, UNHS staff “read the room” on what that household might be in need of beyond heating fuel, whether that’s cleaning supplies or groceries. 

What particularly struck me was Shundean’s mention that “A fire going means someone is home,” which emphasizes that firewood is more than a cooking or heating fuel. Burning firewood represents a visual cue of an active and flowing life. UNHS has an extensive network of partners, is willing to travel to help other wood hubs with wood processing, and is supported by a successful nonprofit institution that hopes to help tribal members at all intersections of health. 

Left: The operation's dry erase board in the main office. Right: Cedrick manages the firewood bank's Cord King wood processor.

Finishing out the southern Utah tour, I stopped in Bluff to visit with the well-known Warm Elders wood bank. Warm Elders has received two grants from the Firewood Bank Assistance Program for a total of $36,948 which has gone towards purchasing things such as PPE, log splitters, a carport for storage, fuel for wood deliveries, labor, and a solar generator. Like Brandt Services with their Warm Hearths program, they are a part of the Firewood Community Safety Initiative. Enhanced safety at their wood lot is a big part

Jim Broderick (Tripple J Logging), Darian, Charlene, and Herbert

of their program. They aim to become a complete community hub for processing and distribution, as well as equipment safety and maintenance. They are one of a few nonprofit firewood banks that are trying to find a way to more effectively distribute firewood on the Navajo Nation by simplifying log deliveries for loggers like Jim Broderick, a reliable logger serving the area, and unifying distribution points. They have the space, experience, and equipment to serve as this unified hub for the surrounding Chapter Houses, but getting everyone on board with the concept is an ongoing challenge. 

Left: Art, a volunteer with Warm Elders, splits logs. Right: Herbert explains wood pile coordination.

Looking at a map and running the numbers on the miles and fuel required to move wood from forests to a central hub or directly to homes may seem straightforward from afar, but the reality on the ground is far more complex. The distances involved are mind-boggling for those unfamiliar with  the region. The equipment, infrastructure, and supplies needed to operate this kind of wood hub can also differ significantly from those of wood banks elsewhere in the US, as the sheer remoteness of the area can make something as simple as placing a phone call or ordering a repair part difficult.

Left: The Warm Elders self-built meeting/break shed. Right: Herbert's mother, a frequent volunteer on the wood lot, talks with Jim among the wood and mulch piles.

All three of these firewood banks are working in an area where firewood is a major heat, cooking, and ceremonial fuel source, both out of necessity and tradition. Being able to gain access to forests and build connections with federal wood sourcing contacts is essential to maintaining a reliable wood supply and ensuring that households can continue heating their homes, preparing food, and carrying on cultural practices tied to wood use. Together, their work reflects how strengthening local wood access systems can support not only energy security, but also community resilience, cultural continuity, and long-term self-sufficiency.