Non native firewood?

You have elms being attached by the emerald ash borer? I assume you mean ash, but please let me know if you are having ems being killed by emerald ash borers. That'd be a new one on me. Most elms are killed by something else way before they get big enough for a borer...

Yep, its Dutch elm disease that kills elms. A fungus spread by bark beetles.

I remember hearing about something black ash trees dying before ash borer came and found this link. So there was/is a lot of concern about ash borer coming in as well and the impact on wetlands since black ash is a wetland tree.
 
I do smuggle some 2x4 cutoffs and an occasional piece or 2 of plywood into deer camp as kindling. Who am I kidding, I pack a couple feed sacks worth of 2x4 and other type material with me just in case it has been raining.
 
I do smuggle some 2x4 cutoffs and an occasional piece or 2 of plywood into deer camp as kindling. Who am I kidding, I pack a couple feed sacks worth of 2x4 and other type material with me just in case it has been raining.
That had crossed my mind too. I'm in and out of residential construction sites almost every day. Would make good kindling
 
In the national forests, you are subject to federal law and USDA/national forest regulations. You still have to obey state laws, but the USDA policies on bringing wood into national forests is generally they want you to bring in only heat treated wood (most commercial lumber qualifies) or use downed trees already there as firewood. More info: https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/friewood-faq.htm This link applies to a national park and forest area in Tennessee and North Carolina but is similar to federal regs governing national forests in Wyoming. I could not find one that was Wyoming specific.

However, the Wyoming State Forestry Division does have policies: https://sites.google.com/wyo.gov/firewood/home. They basically ask that if you do get firewood before you get to your camp that you get it as close to your campsite as possible.
 
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You have elms being attached by the emerald ash borer? I assume you mean ash, but please let me know if you are having ems being killed by emerald ash borers. That'd be a new one on me. Most elms are killed by something else way before they get big enough for a borer...
Dutch elm disease is what attacks the Elms.
 
Montana is really concerned about the emerald ash borer which kills green ash. It has spread to Colorado so it is just a matter of time before some yahoo brings a load of them in with their firewood. Don't be that yahoo! I have several nice green ash trees that I'd rather keep for a long time. A huge proportion of Bozeman's trees are green ash and it's going to suck when it arrives.

The black ashes in Bozeman all died out maybe 10-15 years ago because of some disease. I lost two, which were replaced with green ash of course...

There is supposed to be an elm tree variant that is resistant to Dutch elm disease. I hope so because I have a couple of those too.
 
Be careful which treated woods you use,2x4's and particle boards
are sometimes treated with chemicals that are harmful if burned and inhaled or
used for cooking fires. 💥
 
I get that and was asking for clarrification if he was seeing EAB attach elms.gyyg
..
Be careful which treated woods you use,2x4's and particle boards
are sometimes treated with chemicals that are harmful if burned and inhaled or
used for cooking fires. 💥
True. If you use commercial lumber, you want kiln dried only, not plywood, stained or pressure treated which uses chemicals.
 
You have elms being attached by the emerald ash borer? I assume you mean ash, but please let me know if you are having ems being killed by emerald ash borers. That'd be a new one on me. Most elms are killed by something else way before they get big enough for a borer...
agree...the Elms get some kind of blight (SP?) I believe.....the Ash trees have taken a beating here though!!!
 
It's not illegal to bring firewood with you, neither NF or the State Forestry service has a "law" against it in Wyoming.
NF recc. not bringing outside wood due to insect issues.
We take some oak or mesquite we cut in Texas every year with us for overnight heat in the stove.
A simple email to both agencies got me the answer within 30 minutes.
Hardwood dunnage also burns quite nicely.

You should have a chainsaw whether you plan to cut wood or not, downed trees can cause access issues in or out of an area.
 
It's not illegal to bring firewood with you, neither NF or the State Forestry service has a "law" against it in Wyoming.
NF recc. not bringing outside wood due to insect issues.
We take some oak or mesquite we cut in Texas every year with us for overnight heat in the stove.
A simple email to both agencies got me the answer within 30 minutes.
Hardwood dunnage also burns quite nicely.

You should have a chainsaw whether you plan to cut wood or not, downed trees can cause access issues in or out of an area.
Thanks! I was hoping to kill 2 birds....save the time of cutting and splitting wood and having the longer burn time of good white oak. We always bring a chainsaw anyway, so it's not a huge deal either way.
 
It's not illegal to bring firewood with you, neither NF or the State Forestry service has a "law" against it in Wyoming.
NF recc. not bringing outside wood due to insect issues.
We take some oak or mesquite we cut in Texas every year with us for overnight heat in the stove.
A simple email to both agencies got me the answer within 30 minutes.
Hardwood dunnage also burns quite nicely.

You should have a chainsaw whether you plan to cut wood or not, downed trees can cause access issues in or out of an area.
I pick up a bunch of oak dunnage 4x4s every year. Most of them are heat treated, burn good, and stack good.
 
It's not illegal to bring firewood with you, neither NF or the State Forestry service has a "law" against it in Wyoming.
NF recc. not bringing outside wood due to insect issues.
We take some oak or mesquite we cut in Texas every year with us for overnight heat in the stove.
A simple email to both agencies got me the answer within 30 minutes.
Hardwood dunnage also burns quite nicely.

You should have a chainsaw whether you plan to cut wood or not, downed trees can cause access issues in or out of an area.
First @wytex I mean no disrespect to you at all, but the OP is getting third party information that may or may not be accurate. Here is the deal, when you call the central office for BLM or the Forest Service you don't get a knowledgable person most of the time. I am going to do further research on this because I want to know myself. Reason being:
  • I called the BLM main office to make sure the camp area I was going to use was going to be open when I got there. I got told that BLM is completely closed and all camp grounds are either closed or not maintained.
  • I then called the Kemmerer BLM office and got a different story and that person (a ranger) said that while some campsites might not be maintained and cleaned as often, the BLM was not closing any and in any case, not under "lock and key" meaning you can still get in there and camp, hunt or fish.
  • I then called the Kemmerer USFS office because we were also looking at another site which is what we will probably go with. That ranger told me that at least in Wyoming there are no closed USFS campgrounds. And if they were closed, dispersed camping would be allowed which we probably will be doing anyways.
  • The link I posted for the State FS Division is a publication from their website. Which causes me to wonder why they would publish it if there is no regulation or statute to support it.
Here is my advice to the OP and I want to apologize for all the confusion. My suggestion is contact the district or regional office for the State Parks, USFS or BLM area you plan to camp at. Their rangers are who sill be enforcing the laws and regs and probably the best source to get an answer you will or will not like but know it comes first hand. Having a chainsaw, an axe, a bow saw and a wedge to split wood is a good idea.

Now personally, you are not likely to get arrested and jailed for taking that seasoned wood into the forest or into state campgrounds. At worst, the ranger will tell you you can't have it. I got told that I could not burn 2x4s that I had scrapped from a construction site and took up to Kennaday Peak when I hunted that area. But there was plenty of wood in the area I was allowed to burn so I just put it all back in my pickup. They were worried about the pine beetles infesting the area. Each region might have additional restrictions that are not published at the state or federal level. So look up the phone for the regional or district office having jurisdiction where you are camping and ask them directly.
 
I talked with both the USFS and state forestry folks, state guy in Cheyenne and our local district ranger, we have no law banning outside firewood.
Make the call yourself.
It did not address BLM as I did not contact them.
 
Thank you for your inquiry. While there is no law against importing firewood to Wyoming from other states, we do not recommend it, especially if it is wood from certain tree species. If you would like to discuss this further please feel free to contact me.

Thanks,

Ryan

Ryan DeSantis
Forest Health Program Manager
Wyoming State Forestry Division
5500 Bishop Boulevard, Cheyenne, WY 82002
Office (307) 777-5495; Cell 286-0959
[email protected]
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