Department of Parks
Kentucky State Park Campgrounds Ban Out-of-State Firewood

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky State Parks will not allow out-of-state firewood to be brought into campgrounds this year to reduce the risk of bringing an unwelcome insect into the state.

The ban is intended to keep the emerald ash borer, an insect that kills ash trees, from entering the state. The insect has been found in states north of Kentucky – including Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. These states have quarantined the movement of firewood out of infected counties. However, the ban applies to all states, other than Kentucky. 

The emerald ash borer is a slender, metallic-colored beetle about one-third to one-half an inch in length. It can be transported unknowingly in firewood from infected areas into uninfected areas.

A federal quarantine went in place on Dec. 1, 2006, to prohibit the transportation of potentially infected ash products into uninfected states.  The quarantine regulates many ash products from nursery stock to raw lumber. 

State park campground visitors are asked to use firewood from Kentucky. Campers with out-of-state firewood will be allowed to turn their firewood in at check in for proper disposal. Kentucky State Park campgrounds will have firewood for sale.

Other private and public campgrounds in Kentucky may be adopting the same policy.  Campers should check advance. 

For information about the emerald ash borer, contact Tim McClure with the Kentucky Division of Forestry at 502-564-4496. The Web address is www.forestry.ky.gov.

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The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 53 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Commerce Cabinet, operates 17 resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state. Each year, Kentucky parks draw 7 million visitors and contribute $317 million to the economy. For more information on Kentucky parks, visit our Web site at http://www.parks.ky.gov