Your tent is all set up at the campsite, the sun is starting to set and the air is getting cooler. It’s time to get the campfire started! When you head out on a camping trip the one thing you don’t need to bring is firewood. Depending on where you are camping it is best to buy your firewood locally when you arrive or gather it from the forest where you are camping. Do not gather your own firewood if you are staying in a park. If you are gathering firewood from crown land you need a Free Use Permit for Firewood from the Natural Resource District that you plan to cut in. These permits are available in most areas online from the Province of B.C. website. Only gather firewood from private land if you have permission from the landowner. The reason that you shouldn’t move firewood is that it could contain insects and diseases that kill trees. Local firewood would be anything from up to 10 km from where you are camping. You could probably go as far as 50 km but the closer the better. This goes for when you are collecting firewood for your woodshed at home too. Non-native insects and diseases are very harmful to our forests. Our native trees have developed defenses
against native insects and diseases. Native predators such as birds eat native insects and that helps to keep their numbers from growing too much. Non-native invasive species are a different matter. Our native forests have no defenses against non-native insects and diseases. In order help protect our forests we need to do everything we can to stop the spread of invasive species. So, remember to Burn It Where You Buy It, Buy Local Burn Local, Don’t Move Firewood and make sure your fire is out before you leave. For more information and some great resources, you can check out https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/. For information on invasive species you can check out our website https://www.boundaryinvasives.com/ you can contact us at info@boundaryinvasives.com, 250-446-2232 and on Facebook.
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