Matt, I harvested several white or green (still trying to learn this arborist thingt) trees this last summer and the bark peeled right off with just the point of my knive and then my hands. I suspect that the bark will remain on without the sap in the wood. This, however, is good news for you as the log sections will split out quite nicely. As such, I would encourage you to harvest the straightest and largest (in that order) tree you can find and manage. I seal the ends of all my staves with pariffin wax. I use an old rice cooker to heat the wax and then dip the end of the stave into it. In this temperature it takes only 4 to 5 seconds to cure. :D
I then stack the staves in an unused grain bin for drying. This system produces workable staves in as little as three months. A person could also use an old crockpot (not crackpot, there are enough of us in this game already) readily availible from the nearest garage sale. At any rate, you must seal the ends with something (wax, glue, shellac, paint...) or the ends will check.
Happy harvesting, and be safe. Brett