For every additional square's distance from the stockpile, a steel-using wood cutter produces 3 fewer firewood per season.If you need a supply of logs for building, it is best to either pause the woodcutter, clear additional forests with laborers, or build a second forester lodge. A single woodcutter seems to be able to go through a single fully-staffed forester's log production by himself.
However, surface stone is unlikely to last long enough to cover your stone needs, so your first mining type building should be a quarry. If you avoid exporting your iron tools, you can put off building an iron mine for a very long time and just live off surface iron to keep your tool supply healthy.If you have everything you need in the stockpile, workers will bring as much as they can carry to the job site, thus ensuring the building is finished in as few trips as possible. When materials are trickling in, workers might make lots of wasteful trips to the building site, carrying only 1 or 2 units of materials. When possible, don't build any structures unless you have all the materials needed for its construction already in stock.
BANISHED CHEATS AND CODES PATCH
[Edit: Patch 1.02 says foresters will no longer cut down orchards)