GLOCESTER — There were no valuable antiques or rare works of art to be won by wealthy collectors, nor office furnishings or restaurant equipment to be had for a song because of some failed business.

No, the heated bidding at yesterday’s auction was for just that — heat.

With energy costs soaring, the state this weekend did something it hasn’t done for six years — give everyday people a chance to heat their homes inexpensively by auctioning off the right to cut down select trees in two state parks.

By noon yesterday, a parking lot at the George Washington Management Area, on Putnam Pike, had filled with pickup trucks and SUVs and the park headquarters overflowed with a nearly all-male crowd of 50 people, some wearing jeans, sweatshirts, camouflage caps and red-and-black plaid jackets.

With two wood-burning stoves in his Glocester raised ranch — one upstairs and one downstairs — and the price of home-heating oil skyrocketing this year, Henry Gold hoped to win one of the 20 lots up for bid. He didn’t hesitate when the auctioneer opened the written bids for Lot 16 and announced that his bid of $150 gave him first dibs on the estimated two cords of wood that could be removed from it.

“I’ll take it,” said Gold, 57. Afterward, he said, “I bid a little high. But I’m glad I got one.”

For anyone with a truck, a chainsaw and a few strong helpers, yesterday’s auction and one the previous day at the Arcadia Management Area, in Hope Valley, offered those willing to cut down and chop their own wood an opportunity to save a bundle in heating costs. The auction proceeds, about $5,000, go toward state park operating costs.

Fewer than a dozen people would typically show up for auctions in the past, guys who long favored wood-burning stoves and were familiar with each other, according to Bruce Payton, a supervising forester for the Department of Environmental Management.

“You knew all of them,” he said. “We used to get 10 guys here. We would get bids for $10 [a cord].”

After a hiatus caused by a lack of manpower needed to run the program, the DEM decided to bring back public wood cutting this year, anticipating that the offer of cheap fuel would be well received, Payton said. Still, he didn’t expect to see this much interest.

“It was quite surprising,” he said after yesterday’s auction ended. “Last year people would rather buy oil or pay $100 to $125 a cord.”

This year, however, home heating oil is going for around $3.75 a gallon, and that has helped drive the price of dried, cut and delivered wood to $200 to $250 a cord — a stack 8 feet wide, 4 feet deep and 4 feet high.

Gold, who prefers to burn wood but still uses some oil, goes through about three cords in a year. He based his bids on $75 a cord.

“I’m saving a $1,000 a year,” he figures. “I’m always trying to get free wood. But I’ll buy it.”

The lowest bid of the day provided David Mello, of Burillville, with an estimated 2½ cords of wood for just $43.

“I’m on one of the tougher roads. It’s very narrow and rocky,” he said of the lot. “But it’s a good deal. I just got lucky.”

He claimed the last lot of the day and by then those who had bid more than he had for the lot had to bow out because they had already won one. The DEM limited bidders to winning just one lot per household to allow more people to benefit from the program. The agency also prohibits commercial use of the wood.

Payton said the agency in the past allowed some clear-cutting to improve wildlife habitats. But this year’s program, he said, is aimed at removing dead, dying and fallen trees and clearing space at the George Washington Management Area to restore long-abandoned camping sites. The wood that’s not dead will have to dry out for a year before it can be burned, he said.

Gold liked what he saw when he walked down a dirt road for a close look at Lot 16 with his friend William Retteni, of Lincoln. He had quickly checked out all the sites before bidding and didn’t bid on any in rough terrain. This one was situated just before a steep dip in the road.

“I can drive right down here,” he said.

The DEM spray-painted each of the trees it is allowing to be removed. Retteni and Gold counted nearly 14 of them in Lot 16. Many were tall oaks, possibly a deal more than 2 cords.

“You got a great lot, Henry. I think that was a pretty nice score,” said Retteni, who will join a crew of Gold’s friends and family as they cut down and remove the trees over the next several weeks.

Back at the forestry building, Daniel Turgeon, of Smithfield, paid the $126 he owed on a lot he won with an estimated 3 ½ cords. He knew his next stop.

“I’m going to go out and buy parts for my chainsaw now,” he said.

rsalit@projo.com