Preparing the wood for smoking

Dale, IMO it's up to you. Some will swear that bark makes for a bitter smoke while others, like myself, feel that bark makes no difference. Now if I should find a chunk of oak or hickory with moss or mold on it (which is not uncommon in my neck of the woods) I will remove the bark. Other than that, removing the bark is just unnecessary labor. Again, just my opinion

I don't even think about it,unless like Wheelz said.

Leave it on.
I use mostly green oak branches.

If the bark is that thick, I'd knock it off. It's not going to add that much labor with the amount of wood you'll need. In fact, if your wood is really dry, the bark may partially pop loose as you split it.