All c-wood/poplar/aspen is invasive. Locally people hate it because when the trees fall, and they just sprout more cottonwoods from wherever they touch the ground. So you have to fall it and then get rid of it all. They are that easy to propagate (similar to willow) and that is how they make dense stands here along all the rivers and streams. We also have other types of c-wood here that are from the east that people brought with them and planted on their farms. It has a solid white center, vs. the green-grey center wood of black c-wood.
That is one bad-ass log there, must be a bytch to buck and split. And for all that effort you get pretty low quality firewood. Does that species stink when it is burned like black c-wood does? I do not burn black c-wood any more because it smells like cat pee to me. Guys in Maine say that the Balsam c-wood smells the same when its burned.
i have a balsam poplar round, about 18" in diameter by 24" length, that i've been using as a work surface in front of my shop. like california, we've been having a hundred year drought, but recently i needed to move that round and found it had a three inch thick root ball under it.
regarding cottonwood as firewood, the most common firewood here is ponderosa pine. in california you can't give that stuff away. but it does smell nice. cottonwood on the other hand makes a lot of btu's and produces long lasting embers. so, it's easy to start a fire when you get up in the morning. fremont doesn't smell too bad. balsam has it's own perfume. the cottonwood here is no harder to split that the oak in california.