At least 58 non-native wood-boring insect species have been detected in the United States since 1985; nearly all are suspected of having entered the country in crates, pallets, or other forms of packaging made of wood. And despite the far tighter regulations on wooden packaging that were put in place in 2006, some wood boring […]
News
Beetle time!
This weekend it was unseasonably warm at my house. Sunny, gorgeous, high around 65. We recently had an arborist cut down a few trees that were leaning hazardously towards our house, so there is a lot of firewood in our yard waiting to be neatly bucked and stacked. I was playing outside when it hit […]
Preventing pest entry on plants
We’ve talked a lot here on Don’t Move Firewood about how forest pests can enter North America on or in the wood of packaging materials, such as pallets. One thing that we talk less about is that many pests also have reached our shores on imports of living plants. Examples of this problem include the […]
The Asian spongy moth problem
The Asian spongy moth attacks many hardwood or deciduous trees as well as several conifers, including Douglas fir, hemlock, larch, pine, and spruce. Since the female Asian spongy moths can fly – unlike the European spongy moth already widespread in the Northeast USA– it spreads more rapidly. Asian spongy moths are found in the Russian […]
Compressed wood, fake logs, pellets, and more
Here at Don’t Move Firewood, we get a lot of interesting ideas and news from our Contact Us page. Not infrequently, we get people that want to promote a legitimate product to replace conventional cut-wood firewood, something like a compressed sawdust log, or a pressed wood log, or pellets, or some other reclaimed wood product. […]
Press Release: Look for Pests During Spring Garden and Backyard Cleanup
NEWS RELEASE — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sarah Volkman svolkman@tnc.org 215.622.0557 BEWARE OF UNWANTED GARDEN AND TREE PESTS DURING SPRING CLEANUP Tree-killing insects and diseases can be spread when disposing of yard waste ARLINGTON, VA—March 20, 2013 – On the first day of spring, homeowners and gardeners nationwide are considering the annual task of cleaning […]
Get ready for Pi Day!
Tomorrow is the quirky celebration of Pi day, known to geometry students world wide as “that day when our teacher finally thinks it is smart to bring a delicious pie to school.” In case you don’t get the reference, Pi day is because of the amazing never ending number 3.14(etc) that is critical to calculating […]
When all else fails, burn it
New question for Dear Don’t Move Firewood! Dear Don’t Move Firewood, I have a tenant who brought ash firewood from Massachusetts to Connecticut without my prior knowledge and has stored the wood on the property within the structure. I am reporting this as I am concerned for both the home and other trees on my […]
Proper storm debris disposal is important
Today's winter storms across the eastern seaboard will likely bring down trees across the region- falling onto powerlines, into backyards, and across roads. Here at Don't Move Firewood, we'd like to remind you that once those trees are safely dealt with in the short term, there might be invasive pests in the remaining logs, branches, […]
New house to old house?
The Dear Don't Move Firewood column that we post periodically is taken directly from emails that we receive here at the website. One letter that we got this weekend was so specific, however, that we can't really run it without compromising someone's identity. Intriguing, right? I'll leave you hanging, but the substantial takeaway messages […]