Smokey the Bear should say "Don't move firewood".....

[poltr1]

Some of you like to build fires this time of year. If you live in the midwest US -- specifically, the states of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio -- know that it is illegal to transport firewood outsides of these states and certain counties. This is due to the appearance of the emerald ash borer beetle in these areas.

The emerald ash borer beetle first appeared in this country several years ago. It is believed that it embedded itself in firewood or wood palleting that was brought in from Asia. It has since spread to five US states -- the four mentioned above, and Maryland.

As far as I know, the emerald ash borer beetle goes after live ash trees, but will bore itself into any type of dead wood. Hence the ban on transporting any type of firewood.

I live near a county that has been put under a firewood quarantine. About a mile away from the county border, there are signs warning motorists that it is illegal to transport firewood beyond that point, or risk a $4000 fine. I've seen these signs on two state routes leading out of the county.


If you have ash trees, here's what to look for.
1) The bug is dark green in color, 1/2 inch long, and 1/8 inch wide.
2) The larvae develop underneath the bark of ash trees.
3) When emerging, they leave D-shaped exit holes in the bark.
4) Infestation starts at the top of the tree and works its way down.
5) Total destruction of the tree occurs in 3-5 years.

I found an FAQ on the emerald ash borer beetle and infestation here:
http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab/plnt-eab-faqs.stm

Other helpful and informative web sites are as follows:
http://www.emeraldashborer.info/
http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab/
http://www.ashalert.osu.edu/

Finally, here's an ash tree identification and EAB symptom checklist:
http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/plant/ppc/eab/faqs/fs-ashtreeidentification-032304.stm

Comments

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

There were fairly prominent signs and displays at rest areas and camping areas in state parks saying "don't move firewood". In many cases, right next to the display of dinky little bundles of kindling for $3 that you're supposed to use instead. The standard campground bundle of firewood is about one good fireplace log, split into thin strips.

They can plaster the whole landscape with signage until it blocks the view of the landscape, but it won't make a difference. The affected states could spend $100 million a year on intrusive enforcement -- rangers that check with every campfire and require that the people account for all the firewood they use -- but it wouldn't be very politically expedient and they still wouldn't stop people completely. Or they could see to it that firewood is available any place where people are going to have fires (I first wrote where it was legal, but the sort of people who pay attention to where it's legal are probably the same people who already know about the problem and won't move firewood anyway) for cheap enough that it doesn't make sense to haul it in. That means a couple of those kindling bundles *free*, and enough wood to make a real campfire that a dozen people can gather around for hours for maybe $10. That would mean paying a fair bit of money for subsidized cheap firewood, rather than treating it as a profit center, and it would piss off the people who sell the $3 bundle of firewood for $2 along the road to the campground. But if campers and picnickers moving firewood is the problem, and you don't stop campers and picnickers from having fires at all (which would be tough), the only way that you'll get them to stop moving the stuff is to provide a good answer to "why should I pay a ton of money for the wood you have here when I have a whole pile of perfectly good wood at home?" -- and remember that these are the same people who don't care enough about the environment to clean up their Bud Light cans and not throw their cigarette butts out the car window even when fire danger is high; it has to make sense to them based only on their own personal expense and trouble.