firewood - emerald ash borer

The latest thing (well, actually, it has been common for several years) is water-born transfers. Several states have inspection stations where ALL watercraft must stop. There are several items they look for, Zebra Mussels being one of the most common that they do NOT want transferred from lake to lake. there are even in-state inspection requirements. I can not put my boat into Lake Elmo, then go to Dead Man's Basin Reservoir without thoroughly cleaning the boat!
There is also a growing concern about noxious weed seeds. I can see the day coming when all vehicles will have to go through a car wash with chassis spray before being allowed to cross state lines, maybe even county lines. As it is, any packer or hunter must have certified weed-seed-free hay when going into the back country with livestock!
You might as well get used to it, the firewood restrictions are just the beginning!

A little help on the way?
http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/news/release/EAB-Natural-Enemies-Released

JJBIRISH wrote:
how unfortunate that campers that profess their love of nature and the outdoors are the group that is the least willing to preserve it if it will cost them anything… for so many their love of the forest is trumped by worth of the 30 quarters they might save by transporting wood they don’t know is clean…

Straw man. Please explain how me carrying a Sterilite tote of cut-up pine pallets can spread the emerald ash borer. Be specific. (Note: directly from someone from the USFS last spring, the EAB does not infect evergreens!)

they make one excuse after another to avoid being a part of the solution…

but they don’t realize the failure of just a few that can save a few bucks can cost communities, counties, states, and private businesses millions in cost and losses by their carless and selfish acts…

while it has NEVER BEEN SAID that firewood is the only means of rapid spreading of new colonies of these pest, it is the most probable cause for it…

Yeah, it must be firewood...and not those logging trucks...not that load of trees heading to the nursery...

firewood mostly comes from dead, dying, and weakened trees, the most likely to be infested, cut into small pieces and hauled even deeper into the back woods of state and federal lands to infect a new stand…

non-caring users of camping firewood do the least to prevent rapid spread of these diseases and pest…
regulations for commercial wood movers are far more intrusive and costly and they must comply with federal, state and local laws and restrictions and pay much more for non-compliance…

click

Wow, you POUNDED that straw man. Good job!

mowermech wrote:
It is very simple. Use scrap lumber for camping wood. It is usually kiln dried, has no bark on it, it is cleaner and easier to split, and it is readily available from construction sites, cabinet shops, etc!

I burn cut-up pallets. We get rid of dozens at work every week...I burn the hardwood in my woodstove and use the pine ones (generally, Heineken beer pallets) for campfires.

dalejiw25 wrote:
I've been to CGs that prohibit outside wood yet they don't sell it. I've been to CGs that prohibit outside wood so they can charge 3-4 times what you'd pay for it anywhere else. I've been to CGs that sell kindling that they refer to as firewood. I've been to CGs that have fire wood somewhere on the property but they don't deliver it. I've been to CGs that have run out of wood well before sunset. Not that I condone bringing your own firewood, but I can see why it happens.

My "favorite" is when they ban outside wood, then sell you stuff that just won't burn. I want a campfire, not a smokescreen!

Worst ever was last year: dude at the next site got the last bundle. When he lit it, we knew why it was the last one: someone had used it as a urinal! That was FOUL.

Our state forester, Dr. John Ball, USD, predicts all no. american ash dead, extinct within 30 years, with human movement of the wood. 75 % of new outbreaks are in camping areas.
EAB has a natural fly - spread rate of about 12 miles/ year. With the openness of the Great Plains as a buffer, vast distances between those trees he stated that the west should be, could be spared for much longer.
Sadly, someone carried infected ash wood to a camp in Colorado. It wasn't a logging truck.
Please, do not be the one to ------- hurry the spread.

The emeral ash bore will probably kill off the ash polulation, if memory serves there are several varieties of ash and all are infected by the EAB. The ash will probably end up like the American Chestnut and be vitually extinct in a few generations. The EAB is the larva state of the Emeral Ash Beattle which can fly. Moving the wood just speeds up the process and should be avoided but the end result probably will be the same just faster. From what we found out treating the trees which must be done every couple years saves about30-40% if effective must be done early and and even then eventually you'll probably lose the tree anyhow. Waiting just increase the cost of removal since dead ones realy need a lift to take out safely. Anyhow most of the people in our neihbohood have lots of fireplace wood now even if we can't take it camping.

BubDelicious wrote:
Just got this email today from the DNR, another Michigan park hit by the AEB. 400 Ash trees removed from the park.

Michigan DNR - Aloha State Park

That is a real shame for those that use this park for sure…

While it is possible this could be from natural spread, and there isn’t enough information in the one article, It sounds much more like a classic example of a new infestation in a camping area where the bugs were transported there most likely during the 2011 season… it can normally be a 2 year period between infestation and its obvious emerging damage…

Our city has a plan to remove 10% of the Ash tree population each year for the next 10 years. Tens of thousands of trees will be cut. They did our neighborhood last fall - what a mess!

Just got this email today from the DNR, another Michigan park hit by the AEB. 400 Ash trees removed from the park.

Michigan DNR - Aloha State Park