Guest blog by Brett Stadsvold, EAB Coordinator for Boulder County Parks & Open Space, Colorado

In the dry and sunny Colorado climate, ash trees provide welcomed shade in our cities and backyards -but now those trees and the shade they provided are threatened by emerald ash borer (EAB). The invasive insect, EAB was discovered in Boulder, Colorado in September 2013 and is now presumed to be located throughout the city.  Foresters that are familiar with EAB know that once it is found in an area there is little hope for ash trees surviving the wave of ash decline without intervention.

Boulder County advertisement on the Denver RTD buses stationed in the Boulder Terminal

Most cities and towns in Boulder County have taken action to manage public ash trees, but a high percentage of the ash tree population in the county is located on private property. One of the biggest advantages agencies can gain when managing EAB is more time. In an effort to increase the time Boulder County and its cities and towns have for EAB management, agency staff are proactively educating residents on ash tree identification, private EAB plan development, and proper firewood practices.

With grant assistance from the Western IPM Center, Boulder County was able hire one dedicated staff person to attend public events and provide free EAB education for county residents. The grant also provided funding for a campaign to target property owners via direct mailers, social media, and six weeks of bus advertisements urging residents to learn how to identify ash trees and create an EAB management plan for private ash trees.

"Buy it Where You Burn it" firewood sign encouraging residents to obtain and burn local wood

Boulder County is a tourist destination for camping and recreation enthusiasts with many modern campgrounds and abundant dispersed camping areas in the surrounding mountains. Firewood often accompanies campers destined for the mountains, and we are concerned that EAB could be dispersed further as campers move with firewood across the county. In 2016, Boulder County plans to print firewood signs and work with the United States Forest Service and firewood sellers to place signage encouraging firewood users to obtain and burn firewood locally. DontMoveFirewood.org produced the digital content that will be both printed on yard signs in the National Forest Campgrounds in Boulder County, and used for a related social media campaign.

Proactive public education and outreach in multiple formats is necessary to build the local knowledge base on EAB and proper firewood practices. Boulder County thanks The Western IPM Center, DontMoveFirewood.org, and the United States Forest Service as being wonderful partners on this collaborative education effort.

Join us for a FOCI webinar, Introduction to Firewood Scout, on August 14th at noon Eastern. This webinar will focus on Firewood Scout – a website designed to help the public find local firewood, and here at Don’t Move Firewood we are working with the folks at the Southeast Michigan Resource Conservation and Development Council and the Tennessee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy’s Forest Conservation program to promote this resource and encourage new states to sign up. Currently the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, California, and Tennesse are listed- and more states are wanted!

If you are a state agency employee, federal agency employee, or non-profit professional that wishes to learn more about how your state might join the Firewood Scout effort, we’re holding a webinar on August 14th at noon Eastern just for you! The webinar will cover what Firewood Scout is, how it works (in brief non-technical terms), how the membership model works, how much it might roughly cost to participate, and how states can join. Please note while this webinar is certainly open to the public, it will be tailored to professionals in the field- not to general interest.

This webinar is now completed:

• Webinar recording can be streamed at: Firewood Scout Webinar Streaming
• Webinar can also be downloaded (not recommended as it is 25MB): Firewood Scout Webinar Download

Thanks for your interest!

Did you know that some invasive moths can travel to new places, and infest new forests and trees, on contaminated firewood? In 2022, National Moth Week will be July 23 to 31 and here at Don’t Move Firewood we are providing all our free moth-related materials and downloads to anyone that would like to learn more about how to identify or prevent the movement of invasive moths.

The two invasive forest pests that fit with National Moth Week are winter moth and spongy moth. Winter moth is a pest that could be spread in the egg stage via firewood. This pest is generally uncommon outside of New England and Nova Scotia. You can learn more about winter moth on the UMass Extension Program winter moth site.

Far more common than winter moth is the spongy moth. Spongy moths will lay their eggs on firewood as well as live trees, and any sort of solid outdoor objects (for instance, flower pots and lawn furniture can also become infested with egg masses).

Here are our favorite resources for spongy moth- enjoy!

	Bug masks of both male and female spongy moths (Colored In or Line Drawn, thumbnails shown are for male moth- both sexes are included in the download) produced by Don’t Move Firewood. See French version.
	Templates for making your own spongy moth caterpillar fake tattoo or spongy moth female adult fake tattoos, produced by Don’t Move Firewood
	Identification video for spongy moth, produced by our partners at Outsmart Invasives and Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities
	Educational website on spongy moth, produced by our partners at  USDA APHIS
	Plant Heroes Spongy Moth Activity Books, produced by our partners at  Plant Heroes, a program of the American Public Gardens Association

Guest blog by Mollie Klepack, Vermont Forest Pest Outreach Coordinator

In communities across Vermont, trees are marked with orange ribbon and tags exhorting everyone to “Protect This Tree, leave firewood at home.”

During the week of May 17-23 2015, citizens learned about this request as Vermont celebrated the important role local firewood plays in protecting our trees. The goals of Firewood Awareness Week were; to draw attention to the risks of moving firewood; to feature the social, economic, environmental, and personal impacts of invasive pests; and to educate the public about the upcoming state quarantine regulating the movement of firewood into Vermont. When the dust settled at the end of the week, 450 ash trees had been tagged at rest areas, campgrounds, and trailheads throughout Vermont;  4 rest area blitzes had been hosted by 13 staff and volunteers; over 18,000 people were reached through social media; and that was just the beginning!

Kim, the Park Ranger at Mount Philo State Park, stands with a tree tag for Vermont’s Firewood Awareness Week.

Highlights from Vermont’s Firewood Awareness Week include :

• 450 host trees (which include maple, ash, birch, and poplar) tagged at 14 rest areas, 12 state parks, 1 federal campground, and 2 trailheads throughout Vermont.
• Four rest area blitzes hosted at the Wiliston Northbound Information Center, Sharon Welcome Center, Fair Haven Welcome Center, and Bennington Welcome Center.
• Over 500 visitors to Vermont’s rest areas entertained by Gwen the EAB and Smokey Bear, telling them to “Buy It Where You Burn It” at the rest area blitzes.
• One University of Vermont Extension Across the Fence TV Show aired – Click here to view the episode!
• Over 18,200 people engaged through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts
• Don’t Move Firewood PSAs played on at least 5 community access TV stations, serving 47 towns across Vermont.
• Over seven newspaper and newsletter articles published about the Awareness Week and an op-ed by Steve Sinclair, Director of Forests for Vermont’s Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation.
• Three Front Porch Forum posts shared in at least ten Vermont communities.

Firewood Awareness Week was a collaborative effort of UVM Extension, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation; Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets; USDA/APHIS; U.S. Forest Service, and Don’t Move Firewood.

University of Vermont students visit the Sharon Rest Area Blitz, where they were greeted by Smokey Bear, asking them to buy and burn local firewood.

Plans are afoot to host another firewood themed awareness week in early summer 2016. Lessons learned and ideas for that effort include :

• Rest area blitzes are a fun, easy way to reach visitors to the state.  The hours of peak visitation, however, do not easily line up with the standard workday, so it is important to carefully weigh the goals of the program vs. capacity to staff the event outside standard business hours.
• Social media is a great way to get the word out.  One strategy that worked well for Firewood Awareness Week was to partner with other organizations and special interest groups to share content in order to leverage audiences and reach.
• Don’t Move Firewood.org was a tremendous partner to provide advice and graphic design for materials such as banners, brochures, posters, and handouts.  Thank you Don’t Move Firewood!
• An outreach avenue we will explore for future awareness efforts is to partner with grocery stores to provide Don’t Move Firewood brochures with their s’more and hotdog displays during the summer months.

You can view or download four of the outreach products used for this event here:

• Vermont Firewood Awareness Week Custom Poster
• Vermont Firewood Awareness Week Custom Handout
• Vermont Firewood Awareness Week Custom Brochure
• Vermont Firewood Awareness Week Custom Banner

Vermont Forest Pest Outreach Coordinator, Mollie Klepack, will also be reaching out to other pest outreach programs in New England and New York to explore the potential of hosting a region-wide firewood awareness week.

Are you planning to start your camping season off right this Memorial Day weekend?

This blog first ran on 5/20/2015 at Conservancy Talk, a blog by The Nature Conservancy

Here’s one simple way to combine your desire to protect the environment with your plans to have a great time outdoors: don’t move firewood from your home or backyard to your campsite.

Firewood can contain hitchhiking forest pests — often invisible to the naked eye in the form of tiny insect eggs or larvae hidden deep inside the wood — and these tiny organisms can be enough to destroy whole ecosystems.

Now more than ever, all outdoor enthusiasts need to know that they should be getting their firewood by one of the following ways: buying it at or near their campsite, gathering it on site when permitted, or buying certified heat treated firewood with a either a state seal or a USDA APHIS seal of compliance.

These three options all work to prevent the movement of invasive forest pests.

It is up to you to figure out which source of firewood works best for your camping trip. Just remember the simple rule: don’t move firewood. Bringing firewood from your home isn’t safe for the forest, and in fact it is often against state or federal regulations.

By buying it where you’ll burn it, you are helping prevent the movement of damaging forest pests like the emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, spongy moth, and others.

These pests don’t move far on their own, but when unsuspecting campers move contaminated firewood, they can start new infestations, spreading the problem farther and wider.

These small D-shaped holes are a sign that an ash tree is infested with the emerald ash borer. Photo © Dan Herms, Ohio State University, ForestryImages.org

Forest pests can be devastating to not just the trees they infest, but to entire ecosystems. You might not realize it, but millions of trees have been lost, and whole species of trees have been driven to the brink of extinction — all because of forest pests.

Starting with the accidental introductions of forest pests like white pine blister rust and European spongy moth in the late 1800s and continuing to recent discoveries of Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer over 100 years later, forests pests are not a new problem.

Fortunately, forest managers and scientists all over North America are continuously working to slow the spread of invasives, contain the infestations that can be eradicated, and educate the public on how they can help.

And indeed, the silver lining to this story is this: you can help. You can tell everyone — your friends, your family, your neighbors — don’t move firewood. Instead buy or gather it on site, or buy certified heat treated wood before you go.

If you aren’t sure if there will be firewood for sale at your campsite, take a minute to call ahead to find out if you can simply collect it on site.

By doing the right thing and educating others, you become part of the solution. You can rest easy this Memorial Day weekend knowing that the source of your campfire is good for the forest!

Guest blog authored by Bob Wiltshire, Executive Director, Invasive Species Action Network

Are you looking for a great way to stimulate discussion about forest pests? The Forest Pest Fly Tying Project may be the program you need! If you’re not familiar with fly tying you probably don’t realize the amazing things a talented fly tier can do with a hook, some thread and a bit of feather and foam. The fly tiers in this program tie Asian longhorned beetle flies that are amazingly realistic – enough so you and your staff can use them to teach the public how to identify ALB.

While the fly tiers are not experts on the insects themselves, they can make a huge difference in attracting quality attention to your outreach booth. Forest pest experts across the country have found that adding a fly tier to a booth at a garden or sporting show, county fair or other event results in more people joining the discussion about forest pests and the Don’t Move Firewood campaign.

Right now the program is working with Arbor Day events. Depending on the dates and region, we may be able to supply a fly tier in your area for your upcoming summer or fall events. For more information visit: the Forest Pest Fly Tying Project or contact Bob Wiltshire at bob@stopans.org.