Preview build People, jobs, listings and posts are samples. Guides, events and the directory are real.
ArboNation Join free

Moving firewood in Iowa: no movement ban, a harvest-location label rule and the pests the state lists

What the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship say about moving firewood: moving it inside Iowa is not illegal, but every package or delivery ticket must name the county and state where the wood was harvested.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. Iowa splits firewood between two agencies. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) runs forest health advice. The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) holds the labelling rule and the state entomologist's powers.

Moving firewood inside Iowa

The DNR emerald ash borer page says "it is not illegal to transport firewood within Iowa". It adds that the DNR encourages buying wood where it will be burned and avoiding long moves. The same page says the beetle was found in Iowa in 2010 on an island in the Mississippi River near New Albin, and that people spread it by moving infested firewood, ash nursery stock and other ash items. It lists the Iowa firewood labelling rule under the heading Regulation.

The DNR spongy moth page says egg masses can sit on firewood, vehicles, campers and outdoor furniture, and that Iowa joins a cooperative trapping programme with the USDA and IDALS using more than 4,000 pheromone-baited traps a year. It says to buy firewood where it is burned.

The labelling rule: IAC 21-46.16

The Iowa Administrative Code, rule 21-46.16 under Iowa Code chapter 177A, is titled firewood labeling. It says every package of firewood offered for sale, sold or distributed must include the harvest location of the wood by county and state. For wood sold in bulk, the harvest location goes on the delivery ticket. The rule says this applies to any length of tree that has been cut. It also says the state entomologist may issue a limited permit, or a compliance agreement may set the terms for moving the wood. A limited permit or compliance agreement cannot be transferred and the state entomologist may revoke it for failing to meet the requirements. The code page shows the rule took effect on January 1, 2011.

Pests the DNR says have not been found

The DNR pest pages for the Asian longhorned beetle and the walnut twig beetle each say the insect has not been detected in Iowa. The walnut page names infested walnut logs and firewood among the long-distance pathways. The DNR spotted lanternfly page mentions counties infested and quarantined for the pest elsewhere, and links to a lanternfly map.

For other states see the table on moving wood and firewood.

Sources