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An interesting question popped into my inbox this weekend, about prevention from insect infestations, and use of pesticides.

 

Dear Don't Move Firewood,

I lost several ash trees to pests this last couple seasons here in n.w. Ohio. I am concerned about a large maple tree. Nothing visible yet but as a precaution I wonder if a treatment of Lambda-cyhalothrin would be in order. It is a product that has worked well on the beetle (lady bug). Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Yours,

Roger in Ohio

 

Dear Roger,

I'm sorry to hear about your ash trees. I don't know if they were killed by the emerald ash borer specifically, but I know that the EAB has a lot of infested areas in Northwest Ohio, so it seems likely. What may make you feel better is that your maple tree is not under immediate, urgent, threat from the Asian longhorned beetle, which is present in limited pockets near Cincinnati. Of course, that's a different part of Ohio from where you live. Therefore the preventative use of pesticides, such as you mention, is likely to be a waste of your money in this context.

 

However, in general, we here at Don't Move Firewood don't have expertise in these things- that's what a licensed, experienced, and knowledgeable tree care expert should do for you. For all I know, there are native insects that you might be facing in your part of Ohio, and judicious use of pesticides to save your favorite tree could be in order. While researching your question, I came upon an excellent short impartial guide to helping you make a decision on hiring a tree care professional (visit Hiring a Tree Care Company). I highly advise that you find a reputable and well regarded tree care professional in your area to help you with your treatment (or not) of your maple tree.

 

Good luck! And please, don't move any of the wood from your dead ash trees!

 

 

With Earth Day festivities winding down, Don’t Move Firewood is gearing up for one of our favorite days of the year- Arbor Day! To celebrate, we are putting out a news release with lots of great advice for how to care for the trees in your life, and protect them from forest pests. Enjoy…

 

 ARBOR DAY: PLANT NEW TREES AND SAFEGUARD OLD TREES

Tree-killing insects and diseases are cutting short the lives of trees at a high cost to Americans

ARLINGTON, VA—April 23, 2012 – On April 27, millions of Americans will observe Arbor Day by planting new trees. While planting trees is important to the well-being of our forests, it is just as critical to learn how to protect both new and older trees from damage by invasive insects and diseases. The death of large, mature trees due to these pests can be devastating to neighborhoods, parks, and natural areas.

 

When Julius Sterling Morton declared the first Arbor Day in 1872 in Nebraska, he was ahead of his time in understanding the value of trees. According to the U.S. Forest Service, a 20-year-old tree providing shade on private property can return to the homeowner an average of $102 in annual energy savings, while only costing $15 to plant and maintain. A public tree that same age, such as the ones you find on your street, returns $96 in annual energy savings, storm water runoff reduction, cleaner air, higher property values, and other benefits for every $36 spent on planting, mulching, pruning, and other care. Over its lifetime, a large tree in the U.S. Northeast, for example, will provide almost $6,000 in these benefits.

 

In addition to the monetary value trees provide, a poll conducted by The Nature Conservancy found that 95 percent of the public consider trees to be an important part of the character and quality of life where they live, and that 93 percent are concerned about the insects and diseases that kill trees.

 

“Unfortunately, tens of thousands of trees are destroyed by invasive tree-killing insects and diseases every year,” said Leigh Greenwood, Don’t Move Firewood campaign manager, The Nature Conservancy. “On Arbor Day, if everyone makes a commitment to take simple steps, like not moving firewood when they travel or camp, we can work together as a nation to save both newly planted and already existing trees from being lost from our roadsides, backyards, and natural areas.”

 

The dangers of exotic forest pests in North America first became evident in the late 1800s with the arrival of white pine blister rust on infested pine seedlings as well as the accidental introduction of the hardwood-loving spongy moth. Chestnut blight soon followed, and this blight spread rapidly across the continent, killing millions of mature chestnut trees. Over the last hundred years, other introduced species of invasive insects and diseases have killed tens of millions of trees in cities, towns, and forests across the country. These tree-killing pests include Dutch elm disease, Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, thousand cankers disease, hemlock wooly adelgid, sudden oak death, Sirex woodwasp, and many others.

 

“Prevention by everyday citizens is the key to averting widespread devastation of urban and backyard trees as well as wild forests,” said Greenwood. “Many of these insects and diseases can only be stopped by destroying the trees that are infested – a necessary but undesirable method that is most clearly tragic when entire neighborhoods lose their precious tree cover.”

 

Arbor Day tree protection tips:

 

• Buy your trees and plants from a reputable source, and purchase certified, pest-free nursery stock whenever possible.

 

• Tree-killing pests can be found in a variety of wood products. Most problematic are firewood, brush, yard waste, tree debris, and re-used wood packaging material. Avoid the long-range movement of these materials to help slow the spread of pests. Buy, use, and dispose of these wood products locally.

 

• If you have been camping or hiking in a forested area, clean your equipment, boots, animals, and gear before returning home so not to spread unwanted forest pests or invasive plant seeds.

 

• Obtain firewood near the location where you will burn it – that means the wood was cut in a nearby forest, in the same county, or preferably within 10 miles from where you’ll have your fire. Take care to respect all state and local regulations on the movement of firewood and other unprocessed wood – some areas are subject to serious fines for violations. For more information, visit https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/the-problem/state-state-information/index.html.

• Be on the lookout for invasive pests, and if you notice an insect or tree disease you don’t recognize, take a photo or obtain a specimen of it, and compare it to Web site photos of the suspected pest. A good resource to help in identification is: https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/gallery-of-pests.
• If you believe you have found a new outbreak of an invasive insect or disease, contact your state department of agriculture: https://www.rma.usda.gov/other/stateag.html.

 

 

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at www.nature.org.

 

 

To learn more about how to prevent forest pests from destroying forests, log onto www.dontmovefirewood.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't Move Firewood offers a lot of free goods and services to anyone doing education or outreach about the hazards of spreading pests on firewood. We give away tens of thousands of our materials each year, create dozens of custom posters for various state and local entities, and serve as a focal point for the efforts of many campaigns that need a centralized and accurate website to anchor their outreach messaging. But their is one thing we do that is almost free, very effective at reaching the public, and really funny- and that's our costume share program.

 

Through the last five years, we've needed to acquire two bug costumes (emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle) and a costume that looks like a piece of firewood for our use in making educational videos. And during the mid-summer months, we use those costumes at our own outreach events, like farmers markets and music festivals. But the rest of the year, instead of being ensconced in mothballs, those costumes are available to anyone that asks- for nearly free. We merely ask that anyone that wants it for an outreach event must cover the cost of shipping and insurance. So where do our costumes go from September to May? And what do they do?

 

Parades in New York and Thunder Bay, Canada. Landscaping Expos in Massachusetts and Colorado. Campground fireside chats in New Hampshire. This fall, our EAB costume is already booked for the World Championship of Little League in PA- especially appropriate because of the threat to ash trees and baseball bats.

 

We share our costumes because we are constantly trying to think of the best (and most cost effective) way to share every aspect of our campaign across all of North America. Do you have a need for an emerald ash borer costume? Asian longhorned beetle costume? Or our very funny firewood costume? Email us at info@dontmovefirewood.org, and describe your dates needed, costume preference, and what event(s) it would be for, and we'll see if it is available. Resources as quirky and cool as bug costumes are meant to be shared.

From Acadia to Yosemite, as camping seasons approaches, a lot of folks are going to want to bring firewood into the National Parks. And informed people are probably going to be thinking, "Is this legal? Is this a good idea?" Well, here we go!

 

Dear Don't Move Firewood,

I will be camping in Acadia in August,on the way there I will be visiting relatives in New Harbor ME. Am I able to bring firewood from Pemaquid Point into Acadia? 

Thank you,

Toby

 

Dear Toby,

Excellent question- you bring up three crucial points in this simple idea.

1) Is the within-state movement of wood from "Pemaquid Point into Acadia" too far? Or is it OK?

2) Can within-state wood be brought into National Parks?

3) Can within-state wood go into Acadia, specifically?

 

So let's do this one at a time

 

1) Is Pemaquid Point into Acadia National Park too far? Simple answer; Too far. I asked Google Maps, and the road distance is listed as 119 miles. As the coastline of Maine is quite convoluted, with the roads being very twisty, I'll allow that maybe as the bug flies it is more like 80 miles. That's still far more than the recommended upper limit (50 miles) for within-state movement of firewood. The 50 mile limit is our rule of thumb here at Don't Move Firewood, and it is also what the Maine Forest Service uses on its website (maine.gov/firewood).

 

2) Can within-state wood be brought into National Parks? Complicated answer; Really depends on the park. For instance, Yosemite discourages firewood from more than 50 miles away, while Great Smoky Mountains has some very strongly worded regulations that prohibit the entrance of firewood from most places. The best advice I can provide is if you are coming from within 50 miles of the park, and feel strongly that you want to bring your own wood, then you should use the power of the internet to figure out if it is permissible or not. The best idea is to just leave it at home, of course.

 

3) Can within-state wood go into Acadia, specifically? Simple answer; They want you to leave firewood at home. The Acadia National Park website says, "Firewood brought in from other areas may contain non-native insect species that pose a serious threat to Acadia National Park's resources… Please leave your firewood at home." So that's a pretty strong statement. Park officials do not want you to bring firewood into the park.

 

So Toby, here's your final answer. Pemaquid Point is too far away to safely bring firewood to Acadia. Also, Acadia's staff ask that you do not bring firewood. Therefore- please do not take firewood from your relative's place all the way to Acadia. Buy it in-park, or near the edge of the park, instead.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Dear Don't Move Firewood,

 

For this to work, you really need suppliers not to hike up their prices.  Which I  have run into, trying to be "good"  Also, how come a place like Stop and Shop can sell wood from different states?

 

Sincerely,

Tim

 

Dear Tim,

 

I agree. I hope that firewood dealers all across the nation are taking this not as an opportunity to make more money off of small bundles, but instead to increase the amount of wood they sell overall. But the key to this is demand- in order for firewood cutters and vendors to make enough money and keep their prices low, they need to have a lot of sales.

 

As a regular person, what you can do to help is talk to the campground host or firewood dealer. Tell them that you think it is really important to keep the prices at a level that doesn't alienate the consumer. Change comes slowly, and don't forget to be courteous.

 

In terms of your second question, the answer is that interstate commerce- even for firewood- is pretty well regulated. Therefore, for one state to receive firewood from another, there was probably some level of inspection of the product. Now, here at Don't Move Firewood we don't normally advocate for visual inspection of firewood because it is too tough, but in this case the assumption is that the firewood is from a reputable dealer that is certified and in compliance with all state and federal regulations. So the risk of that firewood containing pests is quite low- far lower than firewood you'd cut from wood in your own backyard, or firewood from the back of some stranger's pickup truck on a country highway.

 

Just another episode of our advice column!

 

 

 

 

Firewood Outreach and Educational Specialists of North America! Are you listening? We have a lot of materials to help you engage with the public on the topic of forest pests and the movement of firewood. All you have to do is tell us how you are planning on using our materials, what sort of demographic group you will be interacting with (i.e. kids vs. adults from the general public vs. a Master Gardeners class) and give us an estimated number of what you need. From there, we work with you to send out the materials that best suit your needs.

 

Intrigued? We have brochures, posters, fake tattoos, frisbees, water bottles, and more. These things serve the purpose of getting people to talk to you, getting them to think, and in the end- getting them "to buy it where you burn it, and don't move firewood."

 

Request materials by emailing us; info (at) dontmovefirewood DOT org. Make sure to include your parcel address, a good justification of where the materials will go, and an estimate of how many people you'll be interacting with. If you need things by a deadline (i.e. you want them a week before Earth Day) please indicate that specifically in the email.

 

Hope to hear from you soon…

We got a great question from a visitor over the New Years weekend. Here goes another episode of…

 

Dear Don't Move Firewood,

 

I am moving from Central Arizona to Victorville California and have some firewood that was cut in Yavapai County.  Can I bring it with me to use in my new home?

 

Thanks,

Richard

 

Dear Richard,

 

Please don't do this. While I'm fairly certain that it isn't directly illegal, it is a really bad idea. There are too many possibilities for spreading pests, whether forest pests or other pests like fire ants, termites, you name it. You sure don't want to bring those to your new yard!

 

Did you know that the goldspotted oak borer, a pest in California that has already killed tens of thousands of oak trees, probably came from firewood brought from Arizona or perhaps Mexico? Yup- just that short hop across the Mojave and the little spotted beetle went from a mild mannered native insect to a rampant killer of hundred year old oaks.

 

The California border is pretty tightly controlled for agricultural pests. There is a good chance that even if you decide to bring it with you despite our advice, they could confiscate it at the border. It really isn't worth the trouble- I know you have good intentions, but please- leave it at your old place, and let the new owners enjoy it. You'll be doing yourself, and California, a favor. 

 

 (Last updated for 2024 Holiday Season)

Now that Christmas has come and gone, let’s talk about how that tree can be disposed of properly. Here are the do’s and don’ts of Christmas tree disposal.

DO: Take advantage of any local Christmas tree recycling program. Usually this means curbside (with your trash) pickup of the trees during a set time period, or you drop the trees off at a central depot somewhere in your town or city. Look in your newspaper or check online (searching for “Christmas tree recycling” and then the name of your town, as in “Christmas Tree Recycling Las Vegas” usually works best) for options near you. In some areas, locally sourced trees are used by the local Natural Resources groups to improve habitat for people or animals.

DO: Play it safe. If you can’t find a local Christmas Tree Recycling program (best choice!), just take it to your local municipal composting facility, solid waste facility, dump, or landfill. These choices are the safest way to dispose of your tree when it comes to risking the emergence and spread of forest pests or invasive weeds that could be hidden in your tree’s needles, bark, or wood.

DON’T: Burn your Christmas tree in your fireplace or wood stove. The sap from fresh trees can sometimes create a fire hazard in your chimney or vent piping. Not worth the risk! While promptly burning your tree (midwinter) in an outside bonfire could be OK if local laws and practical safety allow, indoor burning isn’t a good idea because of this safety concern.

DON’T: Set the tree out in your backyard – whether intended for birds, as a windbreak, or to compost later. Over the winter and into springtime many sorts of pests, weed seeds, and tree diseases could emerge and contaminate your property. It might seem like a harmless idea, but it really could result in a big negative impact.

For the full scoop, visit our Holiday Greenery page!

Thanks for reading!

 

You may have seen the stickers out there- Don’t Move Firewood, it bugs me. And sometimes people email us to ask- where do they come from? Are they from the Don’t Move Firewood campaign itself?

 

I have answers!

 

The “Don’t Move Firewood, it bugs me” bumper stickers (well, bumper magnets) are a product of another group working on the firewood problem- specifically, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Emerald ash borer team. These magnets are great, because they are eye catching, widespread, and get the message across. But no, we don’t make them ourselves here at Don’t Move Firewood.

 

You might notice at the bottom of the magnet, below “it bugs me,” is a link to emeraldashborer.info, which is a very informative website about one of the most harmful pests that travel on firewood, the emerald ash borer. If you want to learn about that bug, you should totally visit their site.

 

Lastly, I wanted to take the time to thank USDA-APHIS for sending the Don’t Move Firewood campaign team a whopping 10,000 of these magnets for our summer outreach project this year. We are really excited to be able to use our outreach booth to benefit both their group, and our group, towards our common goal of firewood outreach. Thanks!