8-3 FB Bad Firewood

 Three states in the Pacific Northwest have teamed up to spread the word about the dangers of transporting firewood with grant funding from the 2010 Farm Bill.

The Idaho Invasive Species Council is working with Oregon and Washington Invasive Species Councils to carry out an outreach and education campaign to inform the public about non-native insects and diseases that can be spread to forests by moving firewood.

The Pacific Northwest states are working together to develop education programs, communication objectives, shared key messages and strategies. The project focuses on increasing public awareness and understanding about the threat that moving firewood places on agriculture, forestry, the economy, and the environment in the Pacific Northwest.

Here’s Pamm Juker, Communications Director for the Idaho State Dept. of Agriculture: “When visitors come to camp and spend some time in our forests, they may bring firewood with them that may be infected with some of these invasive species and before they burn the wood, it gives those species an opportunity to spread to our forests and even sometimes to our urban landscapes and disease can kill our forests and our trees.

Examples of non-native threats include the Emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, Sirex wasp, gypsy moths, sudden oak death, oak wilt, and pitch canker; all can survive in fresh firewood.