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Transporting Firewood Harms Campground Forests
Campfires have always been a major staple in campgrounds
--sitting around the fire on a starlit night, telling ghost
stories and fish tales, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows
for s’mores and even percolating morning coffee in a
battered aluminum pot.
Campers traditionally loaded up a supply of firewood with
their tents and coolers for a weekend of camping.
“It isn’t uncommon for people to fill the bed of their
pickup truck with firewood for a summer outing,” said
Colleen Steinman, promotions coordinator for the DNR Parks
and Recreation Division, “especially if they are going to
camp all weekend.”
But the practice of hauling firewood from one part of the
state to another is devastating Michigan’s native trees.
Transporting firewood also transports insects and diseases.
Emerald Ash Borer,
an invasive insect that has impacted nearly 10 million trees
throughout southeast Michigan, is perhaps the most prominent
threat to Michigan’s forests, but it is not alone. Beech
bark disease, Dutch elm disease and gypsy moths are the top
threats in a growing list of firewood hitchhikers.
Michigan has established Emerald Ash Borer quarantine areas
which make transporting firewood from trees that lose their
leaves from these areas illegal. Throughout Michigan,
campers are encouraged to consider some simple precautions
that will help ensure the future of their favorite
recreation destinations. Our advice:
Don’t bring firewood with you when you camp. If you find
or buy wood in the park, don’t take any back home with
you. Burn it all or give it to other campers in the
park.
In most parks, concessionaires sell firewood in small,
manageable bundles. When a concessionaire isn’t
available, many private firewood sales can be found in
the areas near the park. Keep your purchases within a
short distance.
Use a cook stove or charcoal to cook meals instead of
cooking over a wood fire.
Instead of sitting around the fire at night, try a new
activity. A night-time hike, star-gazing or wildlife
viewing are evening activities that limit the need for
firewood.
Pair up with your fellow campers at a communal fire
circle to share the warmth of a crackling wood fire and
make some new friends.
Protecting Michigan’s forests doesn’t mean that campfires
are a thing of the past. Taking extra steps to enjoy the
firelight will protect Michigan’s forests today and for
future generations. Here are some answers to the most
frequently asked questions about the use of firewood in
campgrounds:
I don't live in a quarantined area, can I take
firewood with me a state campground?
We discourage moving firewood because other forest pests can
be moved in it. If you are not moving firewood from a
Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Emerald Ash Borer
quarantine area and you live in the Lower Peninsula, you
legally may move firewood anywhere in the Lower Peninsula.
It is illegal to move any hardwood firewood out of the Lower
Peninsula no matter where it originated. Hardwood firewood
being brought over the Mackinac Bridge will be confiscated.
Even though moving firewood in the Lower Peninsula may not
be illegal, we encourage all campers to buy local sources of
firewood when they camp on DNR lands.
I live in a quarantined area, can I take firewood as
long as it's not ash with me?
You cannot move any deciduous (trees that lose their leaves
in the fall) firewood from a quarantined area.
I don't want to buy firewood at the campground where
I am staying, why can't I move firewood?
Firewood is the number one way that the EAB has been spread
across Michigan. In order to slow its spread, the MDA
established a quarantine. People cannot move firewood if it
violates the MDA quarantine. If you are in an MDA
quarantined area, you can transport coniferous firewood such
as pine, spruce, or fir but not any firewood from hardwood
species such as maple, ash, or oak. You may not, however,
bring ash firewood onto or into DNR managed parks,
campgrounds, or lands.
Are you saying I can only take pine to burn at a
state park?
You cannot bring ash firewood onto or into a state park
anywhere in Michigan. You also cannot take any deciduous
firewood from a MDA quarantined area.
Does this rule apply if I am going to a state forest
campground?
Yes. You cannot bring ash firewood onto any DNR managed
lands including state parks, forest campgrounds, recreation
areas, access sites and forests.
 So, if you have seen this bumper sticker in your
travels, this is what it is all about.
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Preparation: