Campers advised to “burn it where you buy it”

Planning to camp this weekend?

Federal officials are advising campers to burn wood where they buy it, to avoid furthering the spread of the destructive emerald ash borer.

State officials in May confirmed an ash borer infestation along the Mississippi River in Allamakee County, just south of the Minnesota border in northeast Iowa.

A quarantine on wood products is in effect, so no firewood of any kind can be moved out of Allamakee County.

“It has been found in that one county, but the bigger message is, we need to start changing our behavior,” said Sharon Lucik, Public Affairs Specialist

for the United States Department of Agriculture. “Who's to say we won't find another (infestation) somewhere else today?”

Lucik, who works in the department's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, said the best advice for campers anywhere is to not transport firewood, even from home to a cabin.

Campers who have already done so should burn all the wood they have at the campsite, she said.

According to AAA, more than 40 million Americans are expected to travel for activities this weekend, including camping, making the July Fourth holiday an especially vulnerable time to spread emerald ash borer.

On its own, an emerald ash borer might fly a mile or so in search of a mate or food.

Lucik said the pest has been able to spread so far from where it was first detected in Michigan in 2002 with the inadvertent help of people.

The beetle has killed tens of millions of ash trees since then and has spread to the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Iowa's quarantine is backed by  law.

Violators can face a misdemeanor fine. That penalty will increase in the near future to include federal sanctions.

Under the Plant Protection Act of 2000, violators – either businesses or individuals – can face fines up to $250,000 and imprisonment.