Firewood transport bans

We had a tree with the big Blk ants. Ended up cutting it down. Was a wonder how it even stood up.
Whole inside wad eaten away.

Many states have a firewood transport ban.

My city, Ottawa, use to be a forest of Elm trees, lost them all. They were replaced with Ash trees. You guessed it, all gone again.
The city finally got the hint and is replanting a mix of trees.
My street use to look like a green tunnel now it's bare and wide open.

Here in Colorado we have a similiar situation with the pine beetle, that little plaque has wreaked havoc on some of the forests here....:(

For free expert local help, contact you local agricultural extension office.

I've seen people bring firewood from as far away as Georgia to Big Bend National Park (which does not allow any wood fires - ever) in west Texas.

I've seen people from Colorado show up at Davis Mountains State Park, outside Fort Davis in west Texas with firewood from their homes.

I know some folks from the Dallas area who always carry local east Texas firewood where ever they go - from east coast to west coast.

I can understand a couple sticks for a first night fire - but I can't understand folks who carry several hundred pounds of wood. The general reason they give is their wood is 'cheap' and the folks at/ near campgrounds charge too much for wood.

I carry one of two 'fire logs' - the commercial ones - so I can get a fire going without having to hunt up firewood on the first night.

Our area had first the Dutch Elm disease, then Emerald Ash Borer, and now there is an Oak Wilt causing problems. Solution is to buy locally or bring cut off pieces from pine lumber yard leftovers.

I stopped carrying all the extra weight and do like Paw Paw with a fire log and some cut up 2x4's for the first night.

I didn't know that there were beetles in other areas of NA killing trees like the pine beetles in our part of NA.

dreeder wrote:
Here in Colorado we have a similiar situation with the pine beetle, that little plaque has wreaked havoc on some of the forests here....:(

Same in BC. It's a terrible devastation in the forests and environmental disaster. Global warming is a major factor as the winters aren't cold enough now to kill the beetles off. All the dead trees on the forest floor create a huge fuel load for forest fires and trees that lie rotting on the ground contribute carbon to the atmosphere, further accelerating global warming. Another contributing factor has been lumber trucks freely hauling logs around regions with no regulatory controls.

When they do reforestation, they plant fir trees. Personally I think that is wrong. Natural forests have mixed species because nature has it that way for a reason.

The environment is also under attack in a lot of different areas and I have to wonder what the planet will be like in a hundred or thousand years from now....

Here in the PNW, we are permitted to transport softwood back and forth between Washington and BC as long as it is mill ends (manufactured sawn lumber).

When there is a burn ban in Wa. & BC in the summer, we use our portable propane campfire. Just isn't the same without the smoke and smell.

And there's probably no larger group of people that can be held responsible than campers. People traveling by plane or train and staying in hotels and motels certainly aren't bringing firewood with them. If you want a campfire, buy locally, or use treated 2 x 4s.
Here in southern Ohio, we've been hit hard by the Emerald Ash Borer. A friend of mine lost nearly 100 old growth ash trees to the borer.

We have lost all the Chestnut and Elm while Ash is rapidly disappearing and now we are experiencing Walnut Canker as well yet someone will chime in and defend hauling firewood where ever they want to take it.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
... I carry one or two 'fire logs' - the commercial ones - so I can get a fire going without having to hunt up firewood on the first night.

That is a great idea. Simple and clean.