Moving firewood in Ohio: Asian longhorned beetle, spongy moth and spotted lanternfly quarantines

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The pages read for this guide describe firewood movement through pest quarantines, not one firewood rule. The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) runs the quarantines under the Ohio Administrative Code, and firewood is a regulated article in each of them. ODA also reminds sellers and buyers of its firewood sale rules.

Asian longhorned beetle: OAC 901:5-57

The ODA Asian longhorned beetle page says the beetle was found in Tate Township, Clermont County, and areas of East Fork State Park and Wildlife Area in June 2011, and that the governor issued an executive order on June 20, 2011 declaring the township under quarantine. USDA-APHIS set up a quarantine zone as well. The page names Ohio Administrative Code 901:5-57 as the state quarantine, with Ohio Revised Code 927.69 and 927.70 also cited.

Removal from the area: the page says it is illegal to take material of all hardwood species out of the quarantine area, whether living, dead, cut or fallen: firewood, stumps, roots, branches and debris.
Also regulated: green lumber, nursery stock and logs of the genera Acer (maple), Aesculus (horse chestnut, buckeye), Albizia (mimosa), Betula (birch), Cercidiphyllum (katsura), Fraxinus (ash), Koelreuteria (golden rain tree), Platanus (sycamore), Populus (poplar), Salix (willow), Sorbus (mountain ash) and Ulmus (elm).
Area changes: the quarantine was removed from the Monroe and Stonelick/Batavia townships in 2018. A 7.5 square mile section around East Fork State Park and William H. Harsha Lake was deregulated in April 2022, and another 5.2 square mile section around the park and lake in March 2025.

Spongy moth: OAC 901:5-52

The ODA spongy moth program page says 51 of Ohio's 88 counties are regulated under the spongy moth quarantine, OAC 901:5-52. The regulated articles it lists include, but are not limited to:

trees and woody shrubs, including cut Christmas trees;
logs, pulpwood, slab-wood, firewood and wood-bark chips;
outdoor household articles such as tables, doghouses, planters, garden equipment, playhouses and recreational vehicles;
other products, articles or means of conveyance that may carry spongy moth in any living stage.

The page describes compliance agreements, which certify that all shipments from a regulated area are free from spongy moth, and inspection certificates, which cover a single shipment and allow movement of regulated articles within the state. It says a state phytosanitary certificate can be issued for individual loads moved out of state but within the continental United States, and a federal certificate is needed for articles leaving the country. It adds that the pest moves west into Ohio from Pennsylvania and Michigan and that isolated populations beyond the transition area develop from human movement of life stages on material such as firewood.

Spotted lanternfly: OAC 901:5-56

The ODA spotted lanternfly page says ODA first announced a quarantine, OAC 901:5-56, in October 2021, that 18 Ohio counties were under it before, and that in February 2026 ODA issued a statewide quarantine. It says the insect is designated a destructive plant pest under Ohio law, and that under the quarantine, products such as trees and nursery stock may not be moved out of Ohio without a compliance agreement, permit or inspection certificate. The regulated articles it lists include the insect in any living stage, live or dead trees, nursery stock, firewood, logs, perennial plants, garden plants and agricultural produce. It says egg masses are laid from October through December on trees, buildings, firewood, outdoor furniture, lawn equipment and rocks.

Firewood sale rules in ODA's tips

In its firewood tips news item, ODA says non-packaged firewood must be sold by the cord or a fraction of a cord, with one properly stacked cord 8 feet long by 4 feet high and 4 feet wide (128 cubic feet), and that selling by any other unit such as a rick, rack, face cord or truckload is illegal. It says the seller must give the buyer a delivery ticket or sales invoice with contact details for both, the date of delivery, the quantity, the quantity on which the price is based, the total price and the terms of sale. The same item points to ODA's invasive pests pages for the movement rules for spongy moth and Asian longhorned beetle and calls not moving firewood long distances good practice. Questions about a sale go to the ODA Division of Weights and Measures at (614) 728-6290 or the county auditor's office.

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