At least 58 non-native wood-boring insect species have been detected in the United States since 1985; nearly all are suspected of having entered the country in crates, pallets, or other forms of packaging made of wood. And despite the far tighter regulations on wooden packaging that were put in place in 2006, some wood boring insects are bound to continue sneaking into North America.

We’ve talked a lot here on Don’t Move Firewood about how forest pests can enter North America on or in the wood of packaging materials, such as pallets. One thing that we talk less about is that many pests also have reached our shores on imports of living plants. Examples of this problem include the hemlock woolly adelgid, winter moth, and the pathogen sudden oak death.