Moving firewood in Texas: emerald ash borer county quarantine, quarantined articles and exceptions

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows the Texas Department of Agriculture emerald ash borer page, Title 4, sections 19.702 and 19.703 of the Texas Administrative Code as published by the Cornell Legal Information Institute, and the Don't Move Firewood summary. The state's own code viewer needs scripts, so the Cornell copy of the rule text was read instead.

What is quarantined

Section 19.700 names the emerald ash borer in any life stage as the quarantined pest. The section 19.702 text on quarantined articles lists the pest, firewood of all hardwood (non-coniferous) species, ash nursery stock, and any other material of the genus Fraxinus, living, dead, cut or fallen, including green lumber, logs, stumps, roots, branches and composted and uncomposted chips. The rule was adopted in the Texas Register on August 6, 2021 and took effect August 11, 2021.

Restrictions and exceptions

According to the section 19.703 text on restrictions says quarantined articles from quarantined areas are prohibited entry into or through the free areas of Texas, with two groups of carve-outs.

Exemptions: processed lumber that is free of bark or has been kiln dried or fumigated, and finished wood products without bark.
Exceptions: articles treated or processed as the department prescribes and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate, compliance agreement or other phytosanitary document from an authorized inspector of the state of origin.
Transit: articles that start outside the quarantined area may pass through it without a certificate if they travel in an enclosed or covered vehicle, the waybill names origin and destination, and the vehicle does not stop beyond simple transit.

Section 19.701 says the quarantined areas are those described on the department website, and that the department may add, expand or reduce areas, effective when posted there.

Counties on the department page

The state's Texas Department of Agriculture emerald ash borer page lists the counties under section 19.701: Bell, Bowie, Bosque, Camp, Cass, Clay, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Franklin, Grayson, Hardin, Harrison, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Jack, Johnson, Lamar, Marion, McLennan, Montague, Morris, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Red River, Rockwall, Rusk, Somervell, Tarrant, Titus, Upshur, Walker, Wise, Wood and Young. Its chronology records new areas for Walker County on July 22, 2026 and Wood County on July 8, 2026, each from adult beetles caught in traps, with Delta, Erath, Hardin, Clay, Montague and Young counties added from May 20 to June 15, 2026. The page says the beetle spreads about 20 km (12 mi) a year naturally and much farther when firewood and wood with ash bark is moved, and that campers are strongly advised to buy firewood locally.

Other Texas firewood notes

According to the Don't Move Firewood Texas summary, marked accurate as of February 2026, Texas also prohibits entry of out-of-state hickory, pecan and walnut wood because of an exterior quarantine on pecan weevil, that most of Texas is under the imported fire ant quarantine, and that all firewood from Mexico entering Texas is subject to inspection at ports of entry. It also reports the Mexican soapberry borer detected in 50 Texas counties.

For other states and provinces see the table on moving wood and firewood. Tennessee has its own emerald ash borer rules: see moving firewood in Tennessee.