Montana Firewood Resource Toolkit

Curious how you can help to prevent the spread of pests and pathogens on firewood in Montana? This toolkit has all the basics, including messaging tips, links to Montana-specific resources, and more. Meant for agencies, campsite owners, and anyone interested in keeping Montana’s forests healthy.

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Thank you for helping us protect Montana’s forests from invasive species. By adding information about firewood regulations to your website, you will educate and motivate your visitors and audience to preserve Montana’s forests for future generations!

Below you will find messages and graphics that you can copy to motivate your visitors and audience to preserve Montana’s forests for the future by preventing the spread of forest pests.

Thank you for your support and interest in Don’t Move Firewood!

Background Information and Best Practices:

• Encourage your visitors to buy or gather firewood locally to prevent the spread of tree-killing pests and pathogens.
• As a rule of thumb, moving firewood 50 miles is too far, and under 10 or less miles is best.
• Pests and diseases like emerald ash borer, spongy moth, Dutch Elm Disease, and many others, could be disastrous for Montana’s city trees and natural forests.
• Ash species represent more than 40% of trees in 18 urban communities in Montana, and nearby emerald ash borers are a threat to all these trees.
• Whenever feasible, include Montana’s current fire restrictions and firewood permit process alongside Don’t Move Firewood outreach, especially when messaging about public lands.
• If you work with firewood producers, encourage them to join the Made In Montana membership program, as recommended by the Montana Invasive Species Council.
• Montana prohibits the entry of ash firewood from any emerald ash borer infested area unless the firewood has been certified as heat-treated.
• Please consider firewood outreach on campsite reservation pages. You are welcome to link to Don’t Move Firewood (dontmovefirewood.org, or https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/map/Montana/ if you prefer), but a sentence or two about using local firewood can go a long way. High-impact online locations include on your own FAQ page, within campsite information, during the campsite booking process, and in reservation confirmation emails.

Text Resources:

Here are some informational blurbs for your website:

• Burn firewood in the same area it was cut. As a general rule, 50 miles is too far;10 miles or less is best.
• Forests are being destroyed through the transportation of invasive insects and diseases found in firewood. Buy firewood near where you plan to burn it.
• To prevent the spread of pests that destroy forests, do not move firewood. Instead, obtain it from local sources.
• Visit Don’t Move Firewood for up-to-date information about the forest pests and pathogens that spread on firewood.
• Protect Montana’s trees against emerald ash borer; out-of-state firewood is too big a risk. Burn firewood locally to prevent the spread of tree pests!

Don’t Move Firewood Graphics and Web Resources: