As the Emerald Ash Borer and Asian longhorned beetles threaten to creep their way closer to Maine, legislatures are moving towards prevention before it’s too late.

Maine Representative Jeff McCabe introduced a bill last week to restrict the transport of firewood in the state, citing the movement of firewood as “one of the most frequent ways for insects to be moved to new locations.”

Among other things, he notes the pests’ threat to maple trees in his home county – Somerset, Maine—the number one producer of maple syrup in the United States.

The Californians are really paying attention to the gold spotted oak borer this January, and I wanted to salute the Ventura County University of California Cooperative Extension blog for a nice, short article on GSOB.

My favorite part, naturally, reads as follows;

" At this time, all we can do is work together to slow the spread of the GSOB with the following steps:

There are two things currently threatening California's oaks- Phytophthora ramorum, also known as Sudden Oak Death, and the Gold spotted oak borer.

Both of these are non-native pests that kill oaks. One is found mostly in wet areas of Northern CA, and the other in certain very dry parts of Southern CA.

What else do they have in common? They both can be spread on firewood.

Today is a showing of the new documentary, Lurking in the Trees, about the experience that Worcester MA has had with Asian longhorned beetles. It is being shown at the Massachusetts statehouse in Boston, MA, to state legislators, officials, press, and agency personnel.

Creative excellence? We sure agree! Don't Move Firewood won another award this year, and we are very proud to let you all know! It is a Silver W3 award. To learn more about this award, please visit http://w3award.com/awards/

This is a quick blurb from their site;

Don't Move Firewood won a new award! Specifically, we won a 2009 Silver Davey Award for creative excellence!

As usual, I am excited about us winning an award. I feel like Don't Move Firewood is indeed creative, and excellent. In the case of this specific award, the judging was by the International Academy of the Visual Arts. That sounds pretty great to me.

Firewood is mentioned often and very appropriately in the November Smithsonian magazine article, Invasion of the Longhorn Beetles. I'm really glad the author talked about so many facets of the problem of invasive forest pests- how they get here, how people find them, how we try to get rid of them once they arrive. But most of all, being from Don't Move Firewood, I'm really glad for these quotes;

The Hartford Courant has it right; firewood needs to be locally cut. Their recent article Asian Longhorned Beetle Threatens State's Forests is dead-on when it talks about needing to use firewood only cut in Connecticut. The threat to this state's forests, which are directly adjacent to neighboring states with Asian longhorned beetle infestations and Emerald ash borer infestations, is very real.

Let us all applaud New Jersey for a great article on Asian longhorned beetle awareness month. It mentions all the big points; not moving firewood, looking at trees to spot sign of damage, why trees are so important to our lives, and a little history about the beetle itself.

You can see the article here, or just read my favorite part;

The governor of Connecticut has done her homework, and the recent press release by her office has some great quotes for Asian longhorned beetle awareness month.

Here's my favorite;