Jim,
Being relatively new as well I feel your pain on this. I'm not in the desert, but have found Craigslist and even more so Facebook Marketplace EXTREMELY useful. I haven't heard this verbatim, but I think people feel more comfortable giving their addresses out to someone with a face, as opposed to a complete stranger on Craigslist. I have alerts on both FB Marketplace and Craigslist to let me know when someone posts anything that contains 'wood' and is free. I have found from searching time to time that some folks have something a little rarer (for here at least) like Apple, Cherry, etc. and will charge something like $50 per load, but more often than not, they just want someone to come get it for free rather than paying someone to do so. Works out great for both of us, I get free wood, and they get some of it taken away. You'd be surprised how many people come out of the wood works (pardon my pun) when someone has a tree come down in a storm or felled by a pro, and just want to get rid of the wood. I know it's frustrating because you need supply NOW, but just be patient and things will start to show up, and you'll start to make connections.
I made a contact recently on Facebook Marketplace with someone who advertised some Sycamore, ended up owning a tree service, long story short they basically dropped a pile of Sycamore in my driveway for free, but also said that they would love to call me when they find something in particular (black walnut, cherry, maple) because they'd rather someone use it than just dump it.
Ironically, all of my efforts to contact tree services haven't yielded much, but in your situation it couldn't hurt to try. Always keep your eyes peeled when driving around. If you see a tree down in someone's yard, I guarantee they'll appreciate you offering to cut it up and take some away for them. I continue to find it awe inspiring how useless some people a little younger than my generation are, but that's another subject
.
Word to the wise, if you don't own a chainsaw, buy one, and don't be too cheap about it. Once you start bringing free wood in, you'll need to start processing blanks.
Also, if you haven't heeded the advice about getting in touch with your local AAW chapter, do it. I'm FINALLY looking forward to my first chapter meeting this month (I haven't been able to attend previously because of family scheduling), and I may not be invited back because I'll be asking so many questions.
Keep having fun!
-John