Moving firewood in Missouri: the statewide quarantine on hardwood leaving the state and the 50 mile advice
What the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Missouri Department of Agriculture and Missouri State Parks say about the statewide firewood quarantine, the 50 mile advice, which firewood counts as safe to move and who answers quarantine questions.
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 follows the Missouri Department of Conservation firewood page, the Missouri Department of Agriculture emerald ash borer page, the Missouri State Parks firewood advisory and the Don't Move Firewood Missouri summary.
The statewide quarantine
According to the Department of Conservation firewood page, Missouri has a statewide firewood quarantine that restricts the movement of hardwood firewood out of Missouri. The page says firewood moves freely inside the state, and that officials strongly recommend not moving it more than 50 miles from where it was harvested. It does not print the quarantine order itself, and no order text was found on the pages read on October 8, 2026.
The page says tree-killing insects and diseases can hide under bark, and that even seasoned wood with no visible holes or sawdust can carry insect eggs or fungal spores. Emerald ash borer is its example of a pest that develops under the bark.
Firewood the page calls safe to move
The Conservation page says the only firewood considered safe to move is packaged, heat-treated firewood labeled with the USDA shield. It says internal temperatures of the wood are required to reach 140 degrees F for 60 minutes, which meets federal quarantine requirements. It adds that chain home improvement stores and many gas stations in Missouri sell packaged heat-treated wood, and that firewood bought near a campground will probably not be heat treated.
What the Department of Agriculture says
The Missouri Department of Agriculture's emerald ash borer page says the beetle has probably spread by travelling on firewood moved among homes and recreation areas in at least 36 states, and that regulators have enforced quarantines and fines to keep infested ash trees, logs or firewood from leaving areas where it occurs. It gives the office of the state entomologist, (573) 751-5505, for questions about the beetle in Missouri, for quarantine questions, and for reports of a suspected infestation in a county not yet confirmed.
State parks and neighbouring states
In its Missouri State Parks firewood advisory, the park system asks visitors to buy firewood at or near the camping destination, says most state parks sell firewood, and asks that all firewood be burned on site rather than taken home. It names emerald ash borer as having greatly reduced the number of ash trees in Missouri towns and wilderness.
According to the Don't Move Firewood Missouri summary, marked accurate as of February 2026, Missouri is already infested with pests such as emerald ash borer, so many nearby states prohibit the entry of uncertified firewood from Missouri. The summary also names spongy moth, Asian longhorned beetle, spotted lanternfly, imported fire ant and thousand cankers disease as pests that can spread on moved firewood.
For other states and provinces see the table on moving wood and firewood. Montana lists Missouri as a quarantined area: see moving firewood in Montana.