It's Simple
Don't Move Firewood

Firewood Information line
1-877-303-WOOD (9663)

Firewood easily transports harmful pests and other problems to trees in your backyard, along your street, or at your favorite campsite. Firewood that looks clean may actually be hiding insects like emerald ash borer or gypsy moth, or the tiny spores of a tree-killing fungus like oak wilt.

Instead of taking firewood along on your next camping trip or bringing some home with you from far away, get your firewood where you’re going to use it. Make sure it was produced from trees harvested nearby.

If you are bringing wood to a state property it must be all of the following:

1. From within Wisconsin
2. From within 25 miles
3. From outside of a quarantined area [PDF, 376KB], unless the property is also within a quarantine

Or, even easier, consider buying your firewood from a WI certified dealer [PDF, 18KB]. This wood has been treated to eliminate pests and diseases and is allowed on state properties.

Many campgrounds now restrict firewood use [exit DNR]. Call ahead for specific information for your campsite.

Insects and diseases are excellent hitchhikers in firewood. View a photo slideshow of pests and diseases that are transported on firewood. Identifying these threats is the next step after keeping firewood local.

To help protect the trees in all your favorite places, don’t give those tree-killers a free ride. Don’t move firewood.

Read the firewood law [PDF 78KB] and more details about Wisconsin's firewood regulations.

Tips For Your Camping Trip

Most parks offer quality firewood for sale at a reasonable price by the park’s friends group. Proceeds return to the park’s budget and pay for things like educational programs, buildings and picnic shelters, seasonal naturalists and needed equipment. Private sellers often have firewood for sale just outside of the park as well. For firewood availability at your destination, contact the park. Photo by Joseph O'Brien, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Use up the firewood you have at each place on your camping vacation. Do not leave any unused wood behind and do not take it with you to another destination.

When buying firewood, make sure the pieces are dry and have either no bark or bark that is loose (a sign that the wood is very dry). This will this reduce the threat of spreading diseases and your fire will be easier to start.

Reduce your need for open fire by cooking over gas or charcoal. Instead of an evening campfire, explore new night-time activities like star-gazing or viewing wildlife by flashlight.

If you are a camper from outside of Wisconsin, please do not bring firewood with you. It will be confiscated and if the wood is from a quarantined area, you could be violating a federal law forbidding hardwood movement of any kind out of your state or county of residence. Federal fines up to $1,000.00 may be imposed.

If you are a camper from Wisconsin and purchase your firewood outside of the park please have a receipt ready to show proof of that purchase. It will be checked for location against firewood quarantined areas of the state.

You can buy firewood in, or just outside of, almost every Wisconsin State Park. The only places where it is not available are:

• Pike Lake Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest
• Newport State Park
• The "flowage" properties (Chippewa Flowage, Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area, Turtle Flambeau Scenic Waters Area, and the Menomonee River Natural Resources Area).

If visiting these areas, you will find firewood available locally – either for sale in nearby communities, or on the property as dead, dry wood.