i am a firewood cutter and love cutting out of slash piles but i always make sure i can before i just show up and start cutting. And in doing that have made a pretty good name for my self and get allot of clean clean up jobs of wood and even scrap steal the skidder operator finds.
That's the way to do it. As a rule we don't let anyone cut firewood on our ground, mostly because of liability. Firewood cutters are generally just a PITA.
There are a few guys that we let cut, though. They're great about cleaning up after themselves, taking care of the roads and gates, and they actually save us a lot of work. They always ask before they cut, they stay in the areas we designate, they pick up their trash and occasionally one of the wives will bring us cookies or cinnamon rolls...can't beat that.