AUGUSTA – With an autumn chill in the air during the past couple of days, Mainers’ thoughts turned to their firewood supplies for the winter ahead. And from the looks of things now, prices won’t be cheap.

A strong demand for wood, combined with tight supplies, is pushing prices for hardwood upward by 10-15 percent across the state.

“I used to be able, in my area of midcoast Maine, to get seasoned wood for $120 a cord cut and split, with green wood cut and split for $90,” said Peter Lammert of the Maine Forest Service.

“Now, cut and split green is $120 to $125 and seasoned is $150,” said Lammert, whose job is to link log suppliers and mills.

Supplies became tight as Maine’s wet weather kept loggers out of the woods. Meanwhile, Mainers who ran out after last winter’s bitter cold kept their stoves burning overtime are bolstering this year’s orders.

Nearly 26 percent of Maine households use wood for heating their homes, according to a 1999 survey for the State Planning Office. Of the households using wood, nearly 9 percent said it is their sole source of heat.

The average wood-burning household consumes less than four cords a year, according to the survey.