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

Moving firewood in Minnesota: quarantine counties, certified bundles and state land

What the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources say about moving hardwood firewood out of quarantine counties, bringing it in from other states, and what is allowed on state land.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 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. It covers Minnesota's firewood rules as the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) describe them.

Why the rule exists

The MDA publishes its rules on the firewood information page. Its emerald ash borer page gives the regulatory status as "Regulated" and says quarantines have been placed to help slow the spread of the pest. It points readers to the MDA status map for the quarantine boundaries.

What is illegal, according to the MDA

  • Transporting hardwood firewood out of a quarantined county is illegal unless the wood is MDA-certified.
  • Bringing hardwood firewood from another state into a non-quarantined area of Minnesota without proper certification is illegal.
  • Hardwood firewood may not enter Minnesota without written approval from the Department of Agriculture.

The MDA says violations can bring fines of up to US$7,500 per day, per incident.

Leaving a quarantine area

For firewood to leave a quarantined area, the MDA says it must be MDA-certified, carry the MDA label, and still be in its unopened bundle. Labels have to name the county of harvest.

On DNR land

The DNR's firewood page sets its own rules for state parks, forests and other DNR lands. Three kinds of firewood are allowed there.

  • Firewood bought in the park.
  • MDA-certified firewood.
  • Uncertified bundles that are not ash and were harvested in the same county as the burn site, with the receipt and the label.

The DNR says firewood brought from home, pallet wood, and wood without a receipt or label are not allowed on its lands. Collecting firewood in state parks is not allowed. Dead wood may be collected in state forests.

Spongy moth

The MDA also runs a spongy moth quarantine, described on its spongy moth page. It is a separate programme from the emerald ash borer quarantine, with its own regulated area, so a load can be covered by more than one rule at once.

Where the lists live

The MDA sends readers to its own EAB status map for the quarantine boundaries and to its firewood page for certification. The DNR page is the one that sets the rules for state land.

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

Sources