Don't Move Firewood: How Campfire Wood Spreads Forest Pests

A campfire is part of many camping trips. Once you have checked your destination for campfire restrictions, you gather supplies — s'mores ingredients, matches, maybe a fire starter. Before you tick firewood off the list, though, there is one thing to know: moving firewood long distances can spread invasive forest pests hidden in or on the wood.

Why firewood is a problem

Firewood may look dead, but it isn't. Even healthy-looking wood can hide live wood-boring beetles, tiny insect eggs, microscopic fungus spores and more. These organisms cannot travel far by themselves, but in a bundle of firewood in a car or RV they can ride hundreds of miles. Released somewhere new, the pests and diseases can badly damage native forests that have little or no defense against them.

DontMoveFirewood.org keeps a map of pests of concern, and of firewood rules and recommendations, by area.

What you can do

Know before you go. Check park websites or Recreation.gov for campfire and firewood information, including:

• fire restrictions and burn bans;
• whether you may collect firewood;
• whether firewood is sold at the campground, and if not, where the nearest source is.

Buy it where you burn it. Ideally, get firewood 10 miles or less from where you will burn it; 50 miles is generally considered too far. The DontMoveFirewood.org map shows how far is too far in your area.

Buy certified heat-treated wood. Most packaged firewood bearing a heat-treatment seal from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), or from a state agency such as a state department of agriculture, is considered safe to move. If you are not sure the wood is certified, buy it where you burn it.

Don't take it home. The same rules apply on the way back. Wood from your trip may carry pests and diseases your home area does not have, so leave what is left at the campsite for other campers or with the camp host.

The National Park Service's "I Didn't Know That!" card: know before you go, buy it where you burn it (10 miles or less is best, no more than 50), and don't take it home. NPS.

Pass it on

Protecting ecosystems is everyone's job, and nobody can be an expert in everything, so sharing what you learn matters. The card above is meant to be saved and shared.

Sources

Rewritten from the National Park Service article "I Didn't Know That!: Don't Move Firewood" (public domain), in hubnx's own words. Its two photographs of firewood and a campfire are not reproduced.