Moving firewood in West Virginia: the spongy moth quarantine and the thousand cankers disease quarantine

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The pages read for this guide show no general firewood movement statute. The Commissioner of Agriculture writes quarantines under the Plant Pest Act, and firewood appears in two of the orders on the department's quarantines page. That page lists five quarantines: the gypsy moth (spongy moth) order, thousand cankers disease, black stem rust, white pine blister rust and a non-native plant feeding snail.

The power behind the orders

Section 19-12-6 of the West Virginia Code, on the Legislature's code site, says the commissioner may establish and maintain quarantines and adopt other orders on the planting, exposing, sale and transportation of plants, plant products and regulated articles capable of carrying a highly injurious plant pest in any living stage. It also covers plants and plant products entering the state, and lets the commissioner rescind a quarantine when the need ends.

Section 19-12-16 on the same site sets the penalties for breaking the article or its rules. It makes a violation a misdemeanor with a fine of US$100 to US$500 for a first offense. A second offense carries a fine of US$500 to US$1,000, up to six months in the county jail, or both. The commissioner may also assess a civil penalty of up to US$500 for a first or non-serious violation and up to US$1,000 for a serious, repeat or intentional one.

Spongy moth quarantine

The department's gypsy moth quarantine order, amended October 1, 2012, regulates the movement of articles that can carry the moth into uninfested parts of the state. The order uses the older name for the insect. Its definition of outdoor household articles lists firewood alongside outdoor furniture, barbecue grills, doghouses, boats, hauling trailers, garden tools, tents, awnings and recreational vehicles.

Regulated articles: the moth in any life stage; trees and shrubs; logs, pulpwood and whole-tree wood chips (except those moved to a mill or log yard under a compliance agreement); mobile homes and their equipment; outdoor household articles; recreational vehicles in a residential move; and anything else an inspector finds is near a life stage of the moth.
Regulated area: any place where the moth is known to occur under the federal quarantine at 7 CFR 301.45, the state order, or another state's quarantine. The order names 44 counties, from Barbour and Berkeley to Wood and Wyoming.
Movement: regulated articles may not move from a regulated area to an unregulated area of the state without a certificate, a limited permit or an outdoor household article inspection report.
Who issues paperwork: an inspector or a business under a compliance agreement may issue certificates and limited permits. A person moving outdoor household articles may issue the inspection report after inspecting them and finding no life stage of the moth. A copy goes to the Plant Industries Division within two weeks of the move.
Enforcement: an identified inspector may stop, inspect, destroy, stop the sale of, seize, treat or order back to the point of origin, at the owner's expense, any regulated articles.

Thousand cankers disease quarantine

The department's thousand cankers disease quarantine, established May 20, 2013, aims to keep the disease out of West Virginia. It describes the disease as a fungus carried by the walnut twig beetle that girdles twigs and branches of walnut, with no cure once a tree is infected.

Regulated articles: the fungus and the beetle; walnut plants and plant parts, living or dead, including logs, stumps, roots, branches, mulch and chips; and non-coniferous firewood.
Exempt: nuts, nut meats, hulls, processed lumber that is 100% bark-free, kiln-dried with squared edges, and finished wood products without bark such as furniture, instruments and gun stocks.
Regulated areas: the whole of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington, and any part of another state where the disease has been found.
Condition: regulated articles may not be moved into or through West Virginia from a regulated area without a certificate or phytosanitary certificate from the origin state's agriculture officials stating that they are free of the fungus and the beetle. The commissioner may order articles destroyed or returned at the owner's expense.

Spotted lanternfly

The department's spotted lanternfly page says heavy populations are moving into Harrison, Marion, Preston, Doddridge, Ritchie, Wetzel and Tyler counties, so no reports are needed from them. The page lists no firewood rule.

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