Author: Leigh Greenwood

Have you ever tried to look up your state’s firewood regulations on our map and thought to yourself, “Wow, I’m still not really sure what I’m allowed to do here.” We here at Don’t Move Firewood understand. A lot of state and federal firewood regulations are written in technical language, or so buried in a lengthy webpage that you can’t really find them. Our new solution: the 100 words project.

Each state will have a summary written in 100 words or less, in plain English, of their firewood regulations- for everything in the state. This will include state regulations, federal regulations, and those that pertain to all sorts of specific parks and forests. We started in the farthest Eastern US in Maine, and we’re working our way out from there. So far we’ve written fifteen summaries and gotten formal approval from state officials from four of those states- almost 10%! Off to a good start.

Hopefully this will prove to be a useful resource to all our visitors. Thanks for reading. You can view the Firewood Map here.

We’ve compiled a short list of the best Don’t Move Firewood downloadable resources for teachers, parents, camp counselors, children’s museums, and any sort of outreach event that includes kids- as well as what we think are the best links for youth education materials on partner sites. This page is updated periodically as new materials become available.

ATTENTION: WE HAVE MOVED THIS LIST! Find what you need at our For Kids Curated Outreach List, https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/for-kids/

Firewood is an interesting topic that touches a lot of different types of people, industries, and ideas. Here’s a quick round up of non profits that work directly on firewood related issues, in alphabetical order:

• Alliance for Green Heat “promotes high-efficiency wood combustion as a low-carbon, sustainable, local and affordable heating solution.” from their About Us
• American Firewood Producers and Distributors Association “developed to create a national standard and certification program for the production and manufacturing of firewood.” from their About Us
• Don’t Move Firewood! That’s us. We educate the public about the need to use local firewood or certified heat treated firewood to prevent the spread of forest pests. You can learn more about who runs Don’t Move Firewood at our About Us page.
• National Firewood Association “dedicated to serving the interests of the firewood industry, consumers of firewood, and the environment alike.” from their front page, learn more on their Mission page.
• WoodHeat.org “a nonprofit, nongovernmental agency dedicated to the responsible use of wood as a home heating fuel.” from their front page, learn more on their More About page. (Ed. note: this organization is incorporated as a non-profit in Canada, but provides ample information on both USA and Canadian interests.)

If you believe we’ve missed an important non-profit, please email us at info at dontmovefirewood.org to help us make this blog more informative.

In addition to these five non-profits, there are a host of governmental agencies in both the USA and Canada that work on firewood issues. We’ll cover those another day!

Do you want to protect trees and forests from invasive pests this year? Here's a list of resolutions to help you buy and burn firewood the right way.

• First, don’t move firewood. That means use firewood from under 50 miles as a general rule of thumb- although in some places, the rules can be 10 miles or even no movement at all.
• Instead, buy or cut, and burn, locally cut firewood.
• If you must move firewood, buy certified heat treated bundled wood
• If you or someone you know has already moved firewood, burn it completely. Do not take it back, do not leave it. Make sure to pick up and burn any bark that gets knocked off- those little pieces can have hundreds of insect eggs on them!
• Tell your friends that in 2014, you have resolved not to move firewood

Thanks for everyone’s support this year, and have a Happy New Year!

Ever wondered where Don't Move Firewood gets all its information? It is a mix of help from all the amazing partners we have (thanks, everyone!) and frequently scouring the internet for new ideas and information. Here's a few favorite places that help us think about firewood in the big picture.

• USFS Forest Products Laboratory runs a great blog named Lab Notes. 
• The EPA has a program named BurnWise that delves deeply into all sorts of wood burning questions.
• There are a lot of great Twitter accounts useful to forest health education, here's a few handy ones that are updated quite frequently
•   – @albtweets
•   – @emeraldashborer
•   – @foresthealth
•   – @playcleango

Of course, there are a plethora of other websites with information on specific pests, regional issues, and other more specific concerns. But you have to start somewhere!

Tough one on the Dear Don't Move Firewood email hotline this weekend!

Dear Don't Move Firewood,

We sell firewood in Massachusetts, very close to Connecticut state line.  How far is too far to move firewood in MA and CT?  … We are only selling hardwood, no Pine, cut mostly in (Springfield area, MA).  We currently have a request from (Windsor Locks area, CT). (edited to combine correspondence)

Yours,

Firewood Seller in MA

Dear Firewood Seller in MA,

That's a tough one, because you crossing between two states with their own specific regulations. I got a little confused when I tried to figure out the exact answer, and ended up just calling the helpful folks at the Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station to get the facts. Turns out that due to the firewood being from out-of-state, you'll need a permit (specifically, Connecticut Permit Application to Move Regulated Wood Articles). The good news is that the Springfield area of MA is not currently under quarantine nor regulation for any major pests, so it is reasonable to guess that you will be granted a permit. And moving firewood from Springfield area to a customer in the Windsor Locks CT area is a pretty short distance- 20 miles or less – so there isn't a compelling reason to think this is a problem if the permit is granted.

Good luck, and thanks for asking!

p.s. when in doubt, try consulting our map! We do our best to keep up to date in all 50 states and Canada.