© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

N.H. Rolls Out New Firewood Rules To Control Spread Of Invasive Beetle

Courtesy David Cappaert
/
Michigan State, Bugwood.org
Credit Courtesy David Cappaert / Michigan State, Bugwood.org
/
Michigan State, Bugwood.org

State officials are reminding residents to help control the spread of an invasive beetle in valuable ash trees this summer. The kills ash trees by feeding on their inner bark.

The beetle arrived in New Hampshire in 2013 and has since spread to seven counties – including those where the majority of the state's ash trees grow.

Now, new state rules say untreated camp wood that may include ash should not be moved more than five miles within the state.

Residents and visitors may not bring untreated firewood into the state. And a special permit is required to move any ash wood from New Hampshire to Maine or Vermont.

Ash logs can be treated to prevent infestation, but that treatment must be completed by this coming Saturday.

Ash trees make up about six percent of New Hampshire's hardwood forests and account for around a million dollars in forest products revenue a year.

Copyright 2021 New Hampshire Public Radio. To see more, visit .

Annie Ropeik joined NHPR’s reporting team in 2017, following stints with public radio stations and collaborations across the country. She has reported everywhere from fishing boats, island villages and cargo terminals in Alaska, to cornfields, factories and Superfund sites in the Midwest.