Where to get firewood? (while staying at RV parks)

[ependydad]

I won't tar and/or feather you. :-) Just not sure I'm ready to make that jump just yet. I bought a beautiful grill for cooking over the fire that I haven't gotten to use yet.

[bodzcampers]

Originally Posted by caper

Our area is now infected with the Ash borer. They were found beside a truck stop. Most likely the Ash borer came off a truck while it was stopped. The problem is that a lot of the hard wood for sale in our area is ash. Some people do not burn all of their wood and take the remaining wood home. If you do have ash in the pile and the borer is present in your wood you have now infected another area. Our CG is only 2 miles from the infected area. The majority of the trees in the CG are Ash. If you want a "real" fire you can purchase fire logs that will burn 3 to 4 hours and some even have the snap of "real" wood. A box of 6 will cost about $15. We have a propane fire pit and people walking past think it is a real fire. the advantage with propane is that you can have a fire during a fire ban and you are not having to find firewood. The area we are in have a ban of importing and exporting fire wood. You would be surprised at the extent people will go to in order to hide their firewood. Nature is too fragile to have a person bring an invasive species into an area just because they want to have a "real" fire. If we do not change our ways then in a few years many of the places we like to camp at will be gone.

I hope the Ash Borer doesn't make it to your mostly Ash CG. From the link I posted with FAQs, the Emarald Ash Borer can fly up to 1/2 mile.
I think it spreads very rapidly from what I've seen in MI.

[Itsthetwoofus]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I won't tar and/or feather you. :-) Just not sure I'm ready to make that jump just yet. I bought a beautiful grill for cooking over the fire that I haven't gotten to use yet.

That's a bummer to have that type of grill and not able to use it.. One thing about Goshen, no fire pits, so no fire, Many many camp grounds are going this way. The propane fire pit can be used in places like that. It takes up very little space and would come in handy on a cool evening with kids that like s'mores.

[PineForestCamper]

The ash borer does indeed only kill ash. I understand the desire to want to save the ash. Here in Minneapolis about 20% of the trees are ash and at risk. Losing all those trees in a short time would definitely change the landscape significantly. But the process of trying to save the ash cant help but feel like we are fighting nature. The ash borer is as much a part of nature as is the ash itself. Disease and insects have come and gone thru all of history. Nature is pretty resilient. With or without the presence of mankind nature will survive this latest threat. The ash...might not. Back in the 70's and 80's this area was devastated by dutch elm disease. This area survived that and will survive this too. I do see the merits in reducing or slowing its spread by not moving firewood also. The ash borer on its own can travel a few miles a year where in the back of a pickup it can go 50, 100, 200 miles in a couple of hours. No reason to spread things faster than they would on their own. Totally reasonable.

As to the issue of finding wood to burn. We stay at campgrounds where we are able to gather dead and down wood to burn. That typically means forest camping (National and State). We stopped camping in State Parks as we must pay for firewood and have strict rules against gathering anything to burn. I have never stayed in privates and am wondering what people do for fires there. I cant imagine setting up a propane fireplace. I'm just not feeling it. I might just as rather put on the old yule log on the television. Bah.

[jjdcamper]

I live in S.C. and there are signs all over the place about bringing in wood from other states. They even put warning blurbs on Reserve America when you make your reservations, so I don't do it. If I can't find dead wood laying around, I'm stuck, like everybody else, buying it.

I'm camping right now and the guy next to me has Virginia plates on his truck and a load of firewood in the bed of his truck. I feel this issue of the Ash Wood Borer should be treated like good campground etiquette. If the State doesn't want you to bring in wood there is a good reason for it and we, as good responsible campers, should abide by the rules.
Just my feelings.

[mshell56118]

I have no problem buying wood from campground store but it seems as though when the ban came into effect the price at the campgrounds shot way up. Also been many times we bought wood and then it was to wet so we had to get a decent fire going before we could get it to burn

[cstover]

Originally Posted by jjdcamper

I live in S.C. and there are signs all over the place about bringing in wood from other states. They even put warning blurbs on Reserve America when you make your reservations, so I don't do it. If I can't find dead wood laying around, I'm stuck, like everybody else, buying it.

I'm camping right now and the guy next to me has Virginia plates on his truck and a load of firewood in the bed of his truck. I feel this issue of the Ash Wood Borer should be treated like good campground etiquette. If the State doesn't want you to bring in wood there is a good reason for it and we, as good responsible campers, should abide by the rules.
Just my feelings.

Just because he has VA plates doesn't mean anything. I have TN plates and live in DE. He could have bought the wood down the road. Assuming does nothing.

On the same note, I buy wood locally. 1 it helps stop the spread of the bug. 2 it supports the local economy.

[jjdcamper]

Originally Posted by cstover

Just because he has VA plates doesn't mean anything. I have TN plates and live in DE. He could have bought the wood down the road. Assuming does nothing.

On the same note, I buy wood locally. 1 it helps stop the spread of the bug. 2 it supports the local economy.

I'm sorry if I offended you.

[cstover]

Originally Posted by jjdcamper

I'm sorry if I offended you.

No offense taken. Just another perspective.

[bodzcampers]

Originally Posted by mshell56118

I have no problem buying wood from campground store but it seems as though when the ban came into effect the price at the campgrounds shot way up. Also been many times we bought wood and then it was to wet so we had to get a decent fire going before we could get it to burn

I hate CG store wood. It is overpriced, usually crummy. If they want us to buy CG wood, then get some serious wood in large enough quantifies at a decent market price.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by bodzcampers

I hate CG store wood. It is overpriced, usually crummy. If they want us to buy CG wood, then get some serious wood in large enough quantifies at a decent market price.

That was largely the impetus of this post- the campground store wood would end up being so expensive, it would be one of my largest expenses if I had a nightly fire.

But my guilt stops me from just buying a cord of wood for the house and taking some with me each trip. My focus a bit was on- "if I avoid ash, is that a problem then?"

I am very hopeful of these wood bricks. They would give me a nice option if I can't find decently priced wood near the campground.

[lbrjet]

Even wood with ash bore's is no problem as long as you burn it completely. Bring it, burn it all or take the rest home and you will not spread anything. Can't bring anything into Indiana state parks though without it being verified to be bore free.

[caper]

Even wood with ash bore's is no problem as long as you burn it completely. Bring it, burn it all or take the rest home and you will not spread anything. Can't bring anything into Indiana state parks though without it being verified to be bore free.

If you bring Ash from home that is infected with Ash bore you could infect an area from your home to the CG and back. If the CG has Ash trees on their property and you bring in infected wood the infestation could happen before you get to burn your wood. The moving of ash around the country is how most of the areas that are be infected happen.

[f5moab]

Originally Posted by lbrjet

Even wood with ash bore's is no problem as long as you burn it completely. Bring it, burn it all or take the rest home and you will not spread anything. Can't bring anything into Indiana state parks though without it being verified to be bore free.

May I ask what happens with the wood from the time you pick it, transport it, and then get around to burning it? Is there an insect or two cannot get off along the way from the trailer to the fire?
Basically, is it worth it to take a chance to allow this bug to migrate further just to have campfire?

[lbrjet]

I keep my wood in a sealed container in my pickup bed which has a fiberglass cover. Nothing will spread during transport. These critters are inside the wood. If you split the log at the campsite it would be possible to spread it, but I don't. It goes straight from sealed bin to the fire. You may disagree, but I have researched this and doing what I do will not spread this disease.

[f5moab]

Yes, I'll disagree but it how can I debate this with an expert!


How is this pest spread?
We know EAB adults can fly at least 1/2 mile from the tree where they emerge. Many infestations, however, were started when people moved infested ash nursery trees, logs, or firewood into uninfested areas. Shipments of ash nursery trees and ash logs with bark are now regulated, and transporting firewood outside of the quarantined areas is illegal, but transport of infested firewood remains a problem. PLEASE - do not move any ash firewood or logs outside of the quarantined area. -

See more at: Frequently Asked Questions | Emerald Ash Borer Information Network

Goodbye....

[caper]

I keep my wood in a sealed container in my pickup bed which has a fiberglass cover. Nothing will spread during transport. These critters are inside the wood. If you split the log at the campsite it would be possible to spread it, but I don't. It goes straight from sealed bin to the fire. You may disagree, but I have researched this and doing what I do will not spread this disease.

So if one of the little pests does escape and infect the CG it's not your problem. If we all thought like this the world would no last very long. But your need of a fire does outweigh the chance of infesting an area.

[sideout1961]

How did this bug get here to begin with? Are we sure this isn't just some scheme between firewood providers and campgrounds to generate more cash?

[ependydad]

Ok y'all. Lets take a breather from this topic and see how the wood bricks perform tomorrow night. Hopefully without torrential downpours like I endured tonight while setting up!

[bakken]

Originally Posted by caper

So if one of the little pests does escape and infect the CG it's not your problem. If we all thought like this the world would no last very long. But your need of a fire does outweigh the chance of infesting an area.

X2