Maine Forest Service: Firewood - What is your wood hiding?

Leave Your Firewood At Home; Buy it Where You Burn it;Don't Give Bugs a Free Ride

What Is Your Wood Hiding?

Moving firewood can transport exotic insects & diseases that pose a serious threat to our forests.

Maine Forest Service Issues Firewood Warning

Maine camp with loca firewood

The Two Major Threats To Maine's Forests:

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) HAVE NOT been found in Maine.

Emerald Ash Borer

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an exotic beetle from Asia with an appetite for ash trees that can be transported in firewood.

Since its discovery in 2002, EAB has killed Tens of millions of ash trees in the United States and Canada.

EAB has cost municipalities, property owners, nursery operators and forest products industries tens of millions of dollars.

For more information please visit our Invasive Threats webpage

Asian Longhorned Beetle

Asian Long-Horned Beetle (ALB) is an exotic beetle that feeds on hardwood trees and has devastated trees in Brooklyn, New York.
ALB has also been found in Worcester, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, and Toronto, Canada.
This beetle has the potential to cripple Maine’s maple syrup and hardwood industries.

For more information please visit our Inasives Threats webpage

Some areas of Maine are already affected by the pests below. Prevention of their spread is important.

What Can You Do?

Do not bring firewood from outside the state of Maine.
Buy firewood from a local source where you camp.
Do not transport firewood distances greater than 50 miles, even within Maine.
If you’ve already transported firewood, don’t leave it or bring it home – burn it!

Pack marshmallows. Not firewood. www.StopTheBeetle.info. Don't Move Firewood.

Further Links on Existing and Potential Threats

USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection page on EAB:
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/eab/
USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection page on ALB:
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/alb/index.shtm
USDA’s Plant Pest Program with information on each pest:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/
Union of Concerned Scientists with general information on each pest:
http://ucsaction.org/campaign/5_22_07_firewood_pledge/explanation
USDA Forest Service, Forest and Tree Health Publications on specific pests:
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/palerts.shtm
Maine Forest Service Invasive Threats to Our Forests and Trees:
http://www.maineforestservice.org/invasivethreats.htm

For more information contact: Maine Forest Service at (207) 287-2431

Maine Forest Service
www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/forestry/420-003/figure2.html
David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org
Thomas B. Denholm, New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Bugwood.org