Homer-area residents looking for a free and easy source of firewood may have hit the jackpot with the announcement this week from the Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor's office of a new program that will deposit loads of logs at a location just outside the city limits.

The Personal Use Firewood Program, an effort of the borough's Spruce Bark Beetle Mitigation Program, will make logs of beetle-killed spruce trees available to the public.

"I am pleased to make this borough resource available directly to our local residents, especially considering the increasing cost of heating our homes," said Borough Mayor Dave Carey.

It's an idea that's been a long time in the making, said Duane Bannock, program manager for the spruce bark beetle program.

"People are always asking about firewood so we just kind of took it on for ourselves. We're a grant-funded organization and part of our charge is to do fire mitigation, which involves removal of fuels. I felt this would be a good way of disposing of these trees," he said.

In addition to locations in Soldotna, Nikiski and Kasilof, the borough has selected a spot in the Tom Cat subdivision off Greer Road -- about a mile past Fritz Creek on the north side of East End Road -- for disposal of felled, limbed and stacked spruce logs.

Those interested in harvesting the logs will need to file for a free permit at the borough's Homer office on Pioneer Avenue in advance and should be prepared to cut, split and carry out the firewood themselves, said Bannock.

The logs, which will come from a nearby 20-acre parcel of borough land and will be stacked next to the road, should be available at the Greer Road location sometime in late July.

Although no work has yet begun, Bannock hopes the SBB program also will be busy later this summer with five proposed clearing projects in the Homer area.

Three of the projects, suggested as part of the Homer/Kachemak Community Wildfire Protection Plan earlier this year, are in the area of the Baycrest Ski Trails, Paul Banks Elementary School and Diamond Creek Trail. Chugachmiut, a forestry and firefighting outfit of the Chugach region tribal organization that does clearing work for the borough, would do clearing and slash removal in these areas, said Bannock.

The other two proposed projects are intended to clean up the right-of-way along Spruceview Avenue and Bald Mountain Avenue, but those are in the preliminary stages.

"We're seeking landowner permission as we speak," said Bannock.

As for the Personal Use Firewood Program, Bannock said he's glad to have another way to get rid of the peninsula's dead spruce trees.

"They make excellent firewood and that's part of the danger of them," he said.

Aaron Selbig can be reached at aaronselbig.@homernews.com.