Moving firewood in Massachusetts: the Worcester beetle regulated area, ash wood and the DCR campground rule

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows pages of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the Division of Standards and the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project, plus a federal rule, all read on October 10, 2026. Where two pages print different figures, both are given as printed with that read date.

Asian longhorned beetle: the Worcester regulated area

The DCR guide called Asian Longhorned Beetle in Massachusetts says the beetle was first found in the United States in Brooklyn in 1996, and in Massachusetts in 2008. It records two Massachusetts infestations: Worcester in 2008, listed as ongoing on October 10, 2026, and Boston in 2010, which was eradicated. It prints a regulated area of 97.7 square miles, naming all of Worcester, West Boylston, Boylston and Shrewsbury and part of Auburn. It adds that the 12.3 square miles of Holden once in the area were officially removed. The same guide says the only effective way to eliminate the beetle is to remove infested trees and destroy them by chipping or burning, and that quarantines exist to "avoid transporting infested trees and branches" out of the area. DCR, USDA APHIS and the US Forest Service run the cooperative program. The guide also links news items saying the beetle was eradicated in Shrewsbury and in Holden, yet its own text lists Shrewsbury inside the regulated area on October 10, 2026.

The page of the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project prints an older picture. Its regulated area lists Worcester, Auburn, Boylston, Holden, Shrewsbury and West Boylston, marked last updated October 17, 2011, with a map labelled 110 square miles. The two pages disagree about Holden, and the figures above are as each prints them.

Compliance training: the outreach page says companies and agencies whose work would move host trees or firewood out of the regulated area must have completed compliance training, free of charge, and that the program office can confirm whether a company's training is up to date.
Wood disposal site: it gives the site as in Boylston, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Federal order: it links a federal order dated 2009, Domestic Quarantine of a Portion of Worcester County, Massachusetts, for Asian Longhorned Beetle, and the state's Order to Suppress and Control.

Emerald ash borer and ash wood

DCR's Emerald Ash Borer in Massachusetts guide says the beetle was first detected in the state in 2012, in Dalton. One paragraph lists eleven counties (Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester), and another says 12 counties and 280 communities, so the guide prints both. The guide says the whole state is part of a "national quarantined zone" that limits the movement of all hardwood firewood, green wood products, nursery stock and plant material from any ash species. That is DCR's wording. The federal emerald ash borer domestic quarantine regulations were removed effective January 14, 2021, according to the final rule in the Federal Register.

The guide adds that the borer can travel in ash firewood, ash nursery stock and live ash cuttings. For people working with ash trees it says to chip the material or leave it on site, and that no firewood can be brought into DCR campgrounds, where treated firewood is sold. DCR's Forest Health Program page says the whole state is surveyed from the air each year and lists other pests in a threat table with introduction years, among them hemlock woolly adelgid (1989) and spongy moth (1869).

DCR campgrounds and day use areas

DCR's campground regulations page says "Don't bring your own firewood": firewood must be bought at the park, by credit card only, at US$7 per bundle as the page prints it. The regulation behind it is 302 CMR 12.00, Parks and Recreation Rules, section 12.09 on fires and burning, as published on mass.gov (the PDF prints no effective date). Subsection 12.09(9) says no person may move, carry, transport or ship firewood, green lumber or other living, dead, cut or fallen material in or out of DCR campgrounds, camping areas or day use areas, and may not authorize anyone else to, unless the Commissioner specifically authorizes it in writing. The list covers nursery stock, logs, roots, branches, debris, manufactured pallets and scrap, and scrap construction wood. Other fire rules in the section include fires only in grills or fire rings at designated picnic and camping areas, and no open air fires at campsites between midnight and 5:00 a.m. The regulation defines a citation as a notice of violation that may result in a fine. The text read gives no dollar amount.

Firewood measure: a separate page

The Division of Standards page called Firewood Sales is about measure, not pests. It says wood sold as cordwood is four feet long, firewood runs from eight inches to four feet, and both are sold by the cubic foot or cubic metre, never by the cord. It says Chapter 94, section 299 requires a delivery ticket or sales invoice at the time of delivery showing the amount in cubic feet or metres, the names and addresses of buyer and seller, the date and the total price. The statute itself is on the selling firewood in Massachusetts page.

The sources side by side

Topic	What the page says	Page read
Asian longhorned beetle area	97.7 square miles in Worcester, West Boylston, Boylston, Shrewsbury and part of Auburn; Holden removed.	DCR guide
Older ALB listing	Six towns including Holden, 110 square miles, last updated October 17, 2011.	Outreach project page
Emerald ash borer	Eleven counties in one paragraph, 12 in another; 280 communities; whole state in a "national quarantined zone".	DCR guide
Campground firewood	Buy at the park; moving wood into or out of DCR campgrounds needs the Commissioner's written authorization.	DCR page and 302 CMR 12.09(9)
Firewood sales	Cubic feet or cubic metres, with a delivery ticket.	Division of Standards

Where Massachusetts sits in the family

The table on the moving wood and firewood page gives the one-line version for every state. For burning and disposal of the wood itself, see tree waste rules in Massachusetts.