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Continued from yesterday, our longest question ever!

Dear Don't Move Firewood, continued...

... Or is it just easier to keep hands off of anything where there are big commercial interests?  I realize there is a need to make individuals aware of the consequences of their own actions, but I'm always a bit skeptical when blame-the-consumer is the entire message and very little is said about holding corporations equally responsible for their actions.  So, what is the research telling us?  Is firewood transportation really responsible for most of the harm?  Thanks.

Yours,

Genny

Dear Genny,

Here's the breakdown

• Or is it just easier to keep hands off of anything where there are big commercial interests

• I'm gonna start arm waving here. Firewood is a big commercial interest, really. Some big dealers around the US and Canada do millions of dollars of business annually in the sale of packaged and bundled firewood. And they have huge capital investments in machinery and facilities. Firewood is a big deal. And these dealers face increasingly difficult patchworks of regulation, standards, and labeling needs. Many of them are putting huge amount of money in equipment upgrades to reach the newest heat treatment (kiln drying to proper temperatures) standards to allow for widespread interstate shipments.

   

  Here at Don't Move Firewood, we applaud all the big dealers that are in compliance with state and federal heat treatment. They are doing the right thing for the health of our nation's forests. The demand for packaged wood is high, and the need for that wood to be appropriately heat treated is very real. We try to mention heat treated wood as an alternative option whenever it makes sense.

  When you are buying firewood that you cannot be sure is local, absolutely the next best thing is to look bundled or packaged firewood with a clear heat treatement label.  There is no doubt that this product is safer and better for the environment than wood that has no heat treatment and has an unknown origin. Appropriately heat treated wood from across the country poses almost no pest risk at all- it is that simple.

• So, what is the research telling us?  Is firewood transportation really responsible for most of the harm? 

• The research is extremely clear; the spread of established forest pests is accelerated by the movement of firewood by everyday citizens. Left to their own wings, pests will spread under 5 miles- and many less than 1 mile, in a bug lifetime (usually one year). In contrast, you can drive across North American with a load of bug filled firewood in under a week. Pest outbreaks, most commonly of emerald ash borer, are often located in campgrounds- very clearly from camper-brought firewood. Urban outbreaks of Mountain Pine Beetle, a native species that has patchy outbreaks in native pines, are often traced back to someone cutting beetle filled wood in the forest and then bringing it back to their city lot to burn at a later date. The beetles crawl out and infest their neighbor's trees.  

   

  But your question isn't "some of the harm" it is "most of the harm." So I'll say this; the spread of forest pests has three main vectors once the pest is established; the pests themselves naturally spread very slowly, accidentally contaminated nursery stock spreads pests in a fairly controllable (and increasingly avoidable) way, and firewood spreads pests in a very widespread and difficult to control way. I'm oversimplifying a little, but these are the biggest causes by far. Now, the nursery industry is quite proactive about this issue, and is constantly trying to improve their practices. They are working on it, and that's great. We here at Don't Move Firewood tackle the third angle, because somebody has got to get the word out!

Thanks for reading, and Don't Move Firewood.