You Need to Know Missouri’s Rule About Moving Firewood or Else

I wish I had a nickel for every log of firewood I chopped for my dad growing up in Missouri. I was unaware that there are stringent rules in Missouri on what you can do with firewood and where you can take it and it's best to understand them or else.

In the state of Missouri, they have a very terse website addressing firewood that simply says "Don't Move Firewood". The regulations are so strict it's referred to as a firewood quarantine that only allows firewood that has been "packaged, heat-treated firewood labeled with the USDA shield" to be freely moved around Missouri.

For people like me, there's the "don't move firewood" directive. You are not allowed by state law to move firewood more than 50 miles in Missouri.

Why all the strict Missouri firewood movement rules?

It's all about the invasive pests that reside within the forests of Missouri. The emerald ash borer is just one of the villains that the state of Missouri is trying to avoid spreading. Even if the wood you have looks clean, there are small creases and cracks where eggs from invasive pests can exist. Moving that wood a long distance across Missouri could result in a problem in one area becoming a bigger problem in many areas.

I don't think of firewood as being a dangerous thing, but that's because I'm not an expert in dealing with invasive pests. That's why good knowledge of what you can and can't do with wood in Missouri saves all of us a much bigger headache.