The attention-grabbing banner at the very top of page one Aug. 1 read, “State offers firewood for $25 a cord. Page A2.” That was sensational enough to sell papers, but very misleading.

The older couple who depend on wood for heating their home, but who do not have a truck or a chainsaw, or the ability to use them if they did, might, at first, look for a telephone number they could call to ask the state to deliver some firewood at $25 a cord. With even green firewood on the open market selling for much more than that, the state program, at first glance, would look like a godsend. (See page A2 for the fine print.)

A more accurate banner might have been “State has program for making firewood available at lower cost. See page A2 for details.”

I hope the state has set the program up to thwart speculators, who would think of the $25 as a stumpage fee, get a permit for five cords, and then sell the firewood at market price to the general public. Then secure another permit for five more cords to repeat the process.

The state program is praiseworthy and illustrates the old saying: “Heating with wood warms you twice – once getting it from stump to stove, and secondly, when you burn it in the stove.”

James W. Swanson, Lisbon Falls