That was the case back then Jude. Even when they used Cypress they wanted the heart wood which like you say lasted longer. Below is information from the U.S. Dept of Agriculture on red pine.

Uses: Red pine wood is moderately hard and straight grained. It is grown primarily for the production of wood used for poles, lumber, cabin logs, railway ties, post, pulpwood and fuel. The bark is occasionally used for tanning leather (Sargent 1961) This species is also planted and used as Christmas trees.

So it seems that it has some of the same attrabutes as heart cypress. I found that both make nice accordions though I prefer hardwoods. However I always let the client decide.

Jude
You would want to cut it before the first frost for maximum sap. I know this from sad experience, since I'm the kinda guy that would prefer to wait for cooler weather to do jobs like that .