Key Points

• Firewood has become a necessity for heating and cooking in many rural households within the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe after the closure of a power plant.
• A nonprofit organization is collaborating with Marathon Petroleum’s midstream segment, MPLX, to enable delivery of wood to homes through a program of the National Forest Foundation.
• The wood is sourced from efforts by the U.S. Forest Service to thin out overgrown sections of nearby national forests to reduce the threat of severe wildfires.

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A warm fire is a necessity of daily life for many households within the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe across Arizona and New Mexico. Firewood has become an essential energy source for cooking and heating in hundreds of rural homes since the 2019 closure of a coal-fired power plant in the region along with a mine that made coal an accessible fuel.

To help meet demand for firewood, the nonprofit organization Diné Ba'adeiti (For the People) teamed up for a fourth year with Marathon Petroleum’s midstream segment, MPLX. MPLX’s assistance enables the nonprofit’s volunteers to cut and deliver wood as part of the National Forest Foundation’s Wood for Life program. The timber is sourced from the U.S. Forest Service after it thins out overgrown sections of three nearby national forests to reduce the threat of severe wildfires.

“Our success is a direct result of MPLX’s support. In recent years, they’ve replaced tools, provided a custom 20-foot-long trailer and helped purchase commercial log splitters to speed up wood processing,” said Diné Ba'adeiti Director Ames Meyers. “Firewood is distributed to households with elderly occupants, veterans, disabled persons or young children to meet critical needs.” 

“We want to make a positive, measurable impact by addressing basic needs to promote resiliency in these communities.”

Meyers called the 2025-2026 winter season the nonprofit’s “most productive” with more than 300 cords of wood pushed out of its base camp and over 500 cords processed at other locations. MPLX Tribal Affairs Representative V.J. Smith helped increase assistance for Diné Ba'adeiti this season by reaching out to Turner Industries, a construction firm that performs work for MPLX across the country.

“We're always looking for opportunities to give back or get involved in local communities,” Turner Industries Senior Project Manager Michael Podnar said. “We’re aligned with MPLX in our vision of improving and growing communities in ways that include hands-on donations.”

Turner Industries loaned Diné Ba'adeiti a piece of heavy equipment to help load logs faster in light of the quantities involved. A standard cord of wood (128 cubic feet) can weigh as much as 4,000 pounds. 

“This equipment reduces the loading time of five cords of wood to 20 minutes versus five man-hours of tossing logs by hand to fill a trailer,” said Meyers. “That’s significant when an average request for firewood can call for two hours of driving time, or a 240-mile round trip, across both the Navajo and Hopi Nations.”  

MPLX’s involvement in the firewood initiative further cements the regional connections of its Natural Gas and NGL Services (NG & NGL Services) component. It operates gathering systems and pipelines between Bisti Station and Star Lake Station on and adjacent to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.

“With employees living and working in the area, we are more aware of local challenges,” NG & NGL Services Operations Supervisor Duane Howe said. “As part of MPLX’s community investment priorities, we want to make a positive, measurable impact by addressing basic needs to promote resiliency in these communities.”

Looking ahead, Diné Ba'adeiti is striving to expand outreach by strengthening a growing network of wood banks, or log storage locations, to facilitate more efficient processing and delivery.

“As a nonprofit organization, we are on social media posting upcoming events and volunteer dates,” Meyers said. “We have been working with community leaders and grassroots groups that share the same vision as we do.”