WSDA May Establish Firewood Quarantine

The Washington State Department of Agriculture is considering establishing a quarantine of untreated out-of-state firewood.  The Department is looking to prevent the introduction of plant pests and bee pests.  The movement of firewood containing plant pests and bee pests poses a threat to Washington’s forests, agricultural, and environmental interests.  Eggs, larvae, and adult stages of many invasive insect pests can be carried on or inside firewood and are easily spread when firewood is moved from one location to another.  Introductions of these invasive insect pests have destroyed forests and are costly to control.

WSDA pointed out such invasive plant pests include emerald ash borer, spongy moth, Asian longhorned beetle, spotted lanternfly, pine wood nematode, Sirex woodwasp, Japanese cedar longhorn beetle, and other insects and organisms that can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in plants or parts of plants or in processed, manufactured, or other products of plants, or that can be considered bee pests.

Many states, including Oregon, have already enacted firewood quarantines that prohibit out-of-state firewood that has not been properly heat-treated against pest organisms.  These quarantines seek to prevent potentially infested firewood from entering the state and introducing invasive plant pests and bee pests.

WSDA said this firewood quarantine is necessary to disrupt a dispersal pathway for several invasive plant pests, especially wood-boring insects, and will help prevent their introduction into Washington.  For more information regarding WSDA’s rule-making activities, e-mail the Department.  Learn more about firewood precautions in Washington by visiting the WSDA's Website.

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