This camping and hunting season… get your firewood from a seller close to your destination. Don’t pack your own firewood for use at your campsite or cabin. Unfortunately, our native trees and forests are being threatened by invasive insects and diseases that live in dead and dying wood. In many cases, these pests are being accidentally spread to new locations by people moving firewood from one location to another.

Ozark National Scenic Riverways has a Firewood Movement Restriction Program in place. If you are planning to visit the park, buy firewood locally (within a 50 mile radius of your destination) or “dead and down” firewood can be collected within the park.

The emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle from

Asia , is one example of a pest being moved in firewood. Emerald ash borer is responsible for over 20 million dead and dying ash trees in Maryland, Michigan, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Wisconsin, Missouri, Ontario and Quebec. This tiny insect has caused millions of dollars of damage to landscape trees, nursery stock, landscape trees in cities and towns, as well as in parks and forests.

 

For more information on other forest pests that can be spread by firewood, please see the http://mdc.mo.gov/forest/features/firewood.htm

 For more information on the emerald ash borer, quarantine areas, and firewood movement restrictions, please visit:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/emerald_ash_b/background.shtml