Moving firewood in Florida: rule 5B-65, the master permit, the 50 mile exemption and compliance agreements

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows chapter 5B-65 of the Florida Administrative Code as published on the Florida Department of State rules site, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services firewood page and the Don't Move Firewood summary. The rule history shows 5B-65.005 last amended effective June 24, 2025 and the other rules effective October 7, 2021.

What the rule regulates

The text of chapter 5B-65 defines firewood as cut wood products intended for burning. Unprocessed wood products are bark, trunks, limbs, stumps or other woody plant material from yard waste, tree trimming or tree removal that has not been treated, processed or finished to remove pests and pathogens. The regulated articles are firewood and unprocessed wood products, including palm products and cut Christmas trees. A commercial shipment is a shipment of regulated articles meant for public or private sale or distribution within the state. The stated purpose is to stop wood boring pests, wood inhabiting pests, plant pests and plant disease pathogens from coming into the state and from spreading inside it.

Rule 5B-65.003 lists 20 pests, among them emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, red palm weevil, redbay ambrosia beetle, Sirex woodwasp, pine shoot beetle and walnut twig beetle. Rule 5B-65.004 lists 9 pathogens, including oak wilt, Dutch elm disease, sudden oak death, laurel wilt, thousand cankers disease and beech bark disease.

Moving wood into Florida

Under rule 5B-65.005, commercial shipments of regulated articles into the state are prohibited except under a Master Permit for Firewood and Unprocessed Wood Products. The rule defines the master permit as a permit the department issues to the state of origin, setting the conditions for moving the articles. Non-certified commercial or non-commercial shipments into or within the state are prohibited except under the exemptions. A shipment found infested or infected is put under hold order and quarantine, and is returned to the shipper or producer or destroyed by the department at the shipper's expense. The department firewood page sums this up: commercial shipments of firewood, unprocessed wood products and other regulated articles into Florida are prohibited unless accompanied by a permit from the state plant protection organization in the state of origin, with limited exemptions for sources within 50 miles of the Florida border.

Exemptions

Regulated articles harvested or produced within a 50 mile radius of the distribution point and not moved more than 50 miles from the point of origin. From states bordering Florida, articles harvested within 50 miles of a Florida distribution point may enter for direct transport to that point with a bill of lading, proof of origin and any federal certificates for shipments from a USDA regulated area.
Primary and secondary forest products such as saw logs, pulpwood, sawdust, pellets and chips from Florida or bordering states, moved for processing at mills and plants.
Commercial shipments of processed mulch or processed wood chips for cooking, going to retail outlets, with the same papers.
Non-commercial firewood entering for personal use, on the condition that it is consumed, burned or destroyed as soon as possible and not carried beyond the destination.
Cut Christmas trees with the federal certificate required for movement from regulated areas, or a certificate of inspection from the department of agriculture in the state of origin.

Moving wood inside Florida

Before moving commercial shipments of regulated articles inside the state, rule 5B-65.005(4) says the owner must submit a compliance agreement for firewood and unprocessed wood products movement within Florida (form FDACS-08459) to the Division of Plant Industry, unless an exemption applies. The department is the office that receives these agreements.

Quarantines the summary lists

According to the Don't Move Firewood Florida summary, marked accurate as of February 2026, areas infested with the giant African land snail in Broward, Lee and Pasco counties are quarantined and it is illegal to move firewood out of the quarantine zone. It adds that the whole state is under federal quarantine for imported fire ant, which restricts the legal transport of firewood out of Florida.

For other states and provinces see the table on moving wood and firewood. Neighbouring Tennessee and Texas have their own pages: moving firewood in Tennessee and moving firewood in Texas.