Invasive Insects and Diseases found in Firewood Threaten Vermont's Forests and Urban Trees

Before transporting firewood into Vermont from out of state, please read the following information regarding a very real threat to forests and urban trees in Vermont and all of North America.

Non-native insects and diseases that have found their way into the United States are being transported long distances by “hitch-hiking” in firewood. On their own, these pests move very slowly, only a couple of miles or less per year. Unfortunately, people are innocently providing a ready means of dispersal, often several hundred miles per day, by bringing infested firewood from home to their camping, sporting or second home destination. One forest pest, the emerald ash borer, has already killed over 20 million ash trees in the mid-west. When infestations of the emerald ash borer are found in new locations,attempts to halt its spread involve drastic measures such as complete removal of all ash trees in the immediate and surrounding area. Other destructive non-native pests such as the Asian Long Horned beetle and Sudden Oak Death disease could also be transported in firewood.

As far as we know, none of these pests have found their way to Vermont yet, although Emerald Ash Borer and Asian Long Horned beetle are less than one day’s drive away!

Here’s what you can do, when you travel, to help protect Vermonts forests and urban trees from these potentially devastating pests:

1. Use local sources of firewood when you travel. Do not bring firewood from home. A good rule is to never move firewood more than 50 miles.
2. If you have already brought firewood from home, do not take it back and do not leave it. Burn it as soon as possible!

FYI: The entire states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, the entire lower peninsula of Michigan, and some counties in Maryland and Pennsylvania and are currently under a federal firewood transport quarantine established by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of Agriculture. Emerald ash borer has been found in or near these quarantined areas and the USDA has implemented regulatory action in order to mitigate the spread of emerald ash borer to other areas via firewood.

Firewood Related Links:

• New York Department of Environmental Conservation
• Minnesota Department of Agriculture
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• Florida Department of Agriculture
• The Nature Conservancy
• US Forest Service
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Missouri Conservationist Online

KEEP THEM OUT OF VERMONT!