Hunters reminded about firewood restrictions

[HD]

News Releases
Hunters reminded about firewood restrictions
(Released October 28, 2009)


With the arrival of the 2009 fall hunting season, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds hunters that only firewood purchased at a state park or from a DNR-approved vendor may be brought onto any DNR-administered lands. 

For a list of approved firewood vendors, visit DNR Web site.

The receipt supplied by the approved vendor must be retained as proof of purchase.

Visitors bringing unapproved firewood onto DNR-administered lands need to surrender it and are subject to a $100 fine.

More firewood information is available at online.

On May 20, DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten issued a revised order dealing with the use of firewood on state land after the discovery of emerald ash borer (EAB) in a St. Paul neighborhood six days earlier.

The new order specifies that firewood originating from a quarantined county in Minnesota will be approved only for use in that county. Firewood from counties contiguous to quarantined counties in Minnesota will be approved only for use in those counties. Currently, there are quarantines on firewood, ash trees and ash products in Hennepin, Houston and Ramsey counties.

To slow the spread of EAB, the quarantine prohibits the movement of the following items out of quarantined counties and counties contiguous to a quarantined county:

Firewood from hardwood (non-coniferous) species.
Entire ash trees.
Ash limbs and branches.
Ash logs or untreated ash lumber with bark attached.
Uncomposted ash chips and uncomposted ash bark chips greater than one inch in two of the three dimensions.
Details on the quarantine can be found online.

People camping on state forest land outside of a designated campground may gather dead wood on the ground for campfire use on site. In state parks and designated campgrounds in state forests, people are prohibited from scavenging dead wood.

While EAB spreads slowly on its own, it can hitch a ride to new areas when people transport firewood or other wood products infested with the larvae.

Officials urge Minnesotans to take steps to keep EAB and other forest pests from spreading:

Don’t transport firewood, even within Minnesota.
Don’t bring firewood along on a camping trip.
Buy the wood you need locally from an approved vendor.
Don’t bring extra wood home with you.
Don’t buy or move firewood that came from outside of Minnesota.
Minnesotans should not buy firewood from people selling it door-to-door if the wood originated from outside of Minnesota, from a quarantined county, or from counties contiguous to a quarantined county.

EAB in an invasive beetle that attacks and kills ash trees. Its larvae kill ash trees by tunneling into the wood and cutting off the tree’s supply of water and nutrients. Since its accidental introduction into North America, EAB has killed more than 50 million of ash trees in 12 states and Ontario, Canada.

With more than 900 million ash trees, Minnesota is a prime target for EAB.

More information about EAB is available online.

The best firewood is local firewood; purchasing firewood locally will help slow the movement of forest pests.