Firewood. It’s the star of every cozy night in front of the fireplace. Essential fuel for the tender, slow-cooked pit barbecue so loved by Texans.

What’s a weekend at the deer lease without a campfire to sit around and trade hunting stories? And s’mores just don’t taste the same without that toasty char, courtesy of a summer bonfire.

It’s clear that firewood plays a major role in some of our favorite memories. But that tradition could be at risk if Texans don’t handle firewood properly.

Diseases and pests are easily transmitted by moving fallen trees and cut firewood.

Remember: buy it where you burn it. The best option is to select firewood that comes from within a 50-mile radius of where it’s going to be burned. Don’t transport wood from the hunting camp to the house or vice versa. Harvest the wood nearby or buy firewood from a reputable source.

Firewood from other areas—including other counties in Texas—can spread oak wilt disease, a devastating fungal infection that is fatal to oak trees.

Oak wilt is prevalent in Central Texas, according to the Texas Forest Service. There are now 76 counties across the state with confirmed cases of oak wilt, mostly along the I-35 corridor.

The Bretziella fagacearum fungus inhibits the tree’s ability to conduct water through its vascular system, causing the tree to die. All oaks are susceptible, but red oak species are affected more dramatically, often completely succumbing to the disease in as little as three months.

People often unknowingly transmit oak wilt to new areas when cutting up fallen trees and taking the wood home for firewood.

And there are other pests, too.

The red imported fire ant and emerald ash borer are invasive species with established quarantine zones in Texas.

The Texas Department of Agriculture prohibits moving plant materials, such as firewood, from inside quarantined areas to prevent the spread of these pests.

Buying firewood

Look for well-seasoned firewood that was cut in the spring or early summer. In addition to burning more efficiently, the hot Texas summer usually destroys fungus and other diseases in cut wood as it dries.

Seasoned wood is typically dry, with loose bark and cracked ends. If the bark is hard to peel back, it’s probably still wet.

Well-seasoned wood doesn’t smell like wood. Most of the scent of fresh-cut wood is caused by moisture.

Seasoned wood should also have a slight gray tone. The more sun exposure it has received, the better.

Storing firewood

Store firewood at least five feet away from the house. Stacking it right against the structure is an open invitation to termites and other pests to come inside.

Try not to store firewood directly on the ground. Even a couple of inches of elevation can be useful in preventing ground moisture from getting into the wood. A lack of moisture is key to better burning.

Store firewood out of the shade and with enough space for air to circulate.

Alternating rows between length and width allows for good airflow and creates a more stable structure than stacking it all one direction.

Keep the woodpile four feet high or less. Anything taller can become unstable and cause injuries if it falls.

If the wood came from an unknown source or was transported from far away, cover it with plastic sheeting and bury the edges underground. This will keep any insects or diseases from inadvertently spreading to nearby live trees.

By implementing these practices when buying and storing firewood, people are ensuring future generations of Texans can enjoy making memories around the fire, too.

For more information on storing and handling firewood, visit https://www.dontmovefirewood.org.

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A PIG’S ROLE IN HUMAN HEALTH

Great strides have been made to encourage consumers to include pork as a part of a heart-healthy diet. There is good reason for that encouragement.

According to the National Pork Board’s website, pork.org, besides being darn tasty, pork is also nutritious. Naturally low in sodium and a good source of potassium, pork provides a good combination that regulates blood pressure.

Pork tenderloin and pork sirloin roast meet criteria to receive a Heart Checkmark from the American Heart Association by containing less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams or less of saturated fat, and 480 milligrams or less of sodium per label serving.

That’s not to mention the protein packed into a 3-ounce serving of pork loin, pork sirloin and pork tenderloin — 24 grams, 24 grams and 22 grams, respectively.

As you can see, pork does a body good. And that’s just what we consume. Your basic run-of-the-mill hog has long been the producer of many things that enhance our lives, including pharmaceutical and industrial products. Researchers have discovered and perfected ways to use, as they say, “everything but the oink.”

According to porkcheckoff.org, nearly 20 drugs and pharmaceuticals can be traced to a porcine origin, from cortisone to heparin to relaxin.

Now, there’s potential that hogs may not only add to a heart-healthy diet, but they may also be able to actually provide the heart.

Heart of the matter

Early in January, as a last-ditch effort to save a man’s life, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center transplanted a pig’s heart into David Bennett, a 57-year-old man who was ineligible for a human heart transplant.

Xenotransplantation is the term for transplanting living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another, and the practice has been on the horizon for quite some time.

According to an article on nationalhogfarmer.com, xenotransplantation was first tried in the 1980s, with the most famous case of a baboon heart being transplanted into an infant girl. Baby Fae, as she became known, died within a month of receiving the heart because of her immune system’s rejection of the heart. For many years, though, heart valves from pigs have been used with success in replacing faulty human heart valves.

The pig that provided the heart for Bennett had been genetically altered to remove a sugar in its cells that is responsible for organ rejection.

According to various media reports, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the surgery on New Year’s Eve through its expanded access (compassionate use) provision.

This provision is granted when an experimental medical product, in this case the genetically modified pig’s heart, is the only option available for a patient. The authorization to proceed was granted in the hope of saving the patient’s life.

Promising development

As of this writing, the heart is keeping Bennett alive. Obviously, it’s too early to tell the long-term health effects for this man, but the hope lies in the potential that such medical advancements may have.

As mentioned, Bennett’s existing health issues rendered him ineligible to receive a traditional heart transplant or a heart pump. But there are many more patients on the heart transplant waiting list, people who may fall victim to the numbers and the waiting game.

According to the federal government’s organ donor website, more than 100,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list. In addition to hearts, this number also includes those awaiting kidney, liver and lung transplants.

Although last year showed a record number of transplants with more than 40,000, there is still a large discrepancy between the supply and the demand.

It’s still too early to tell if this pig heart transplant will save Bennett’s life, but it does provide a ray of hope for someone waiting on a transplant list. Successful or not, xenotransplantation will be under the public microscope, but that is a discussion for another day.

In the meantime, I hope that this pig’s heart will give this man a much longer, fulfilling life, but even if it doesn’t, his “last choice” has helped advance the potential for future life-saving transplants.