Michigan’s $126B Industry at Risk from One Common Mistake

When it comes to camping, the old adage is "Leave nothing behind", but Michigan's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is urging you to break that rule. If you ignore the plea, you run the risk of bringing hitchhiking invasive pests that are out to ruin the state's forests and cause a significant financial impact. So, leave that untreated firewood bundle at your campsite.

RELATED: Michigan DNR Invasive Species Watchlist: Northern Snakehead

I get it. Firewood, especially at campgrounds, isn't cheap, and you want to get your money's worth. However, if you're traveling out of state, you run the risk of transferring an invasive species into Michigan and directly into your neighborhood.

Invasive Species Threaten $126 Billion Industry

In an MDARD press release, Director Tim Boring states that more than 140 pests and plant diseases can hitch a ride in or on untreated firewood. Once these species set up camp, they are incredibly difficult to evict and threaten Michigan's $126 billion agriculture industry.

Get our free mobile app

According to Habitat Matters, nasty little bugs like the hemlock woolly adelgid, though seemingly tiny, can and have wiped out entire swathes of forest in the Appalachians. Others, like the emerald ash borer, oak wilt, and the Asian longhorned beetle, are all but impossible to see with the naked eye.

Don’t Let Firewood Pests Crash Your Michigan Camp Trip

Obviously, you're not looking to bring an ecosystem destroyer into Michigan, so here are the steps to take to ensure they stay where they belong.

• Buy your firewood where you plan to burn it, don't haul it from home
• If you feel compelled to transport your own wood, do so only if it is heat-treated
• If you don't burn it, leave it

RELATED: Michigan's Invasive Species Watchlist: Asian Longhorned Beetle

Keep Michigan safe and as invasive-species-free as possible. While you're at it, make sure to practice fire safety with that wood; you could be just one dry day and a strong wind away from starting a forest fire.