Rules regarding movement of firewood and logs from Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) infested areas have been simplified to allow for movement of wood under certain conditions. Since it was first detected in Vermont in 2018, the number of areas infested with EAB has increased steadily. As of October 2025, 90% of the state’s municipalities are within 10 miles of at least one known EAB detection and nearly 140 Vermont municipalities (~55%) have at least one known EAB detection.

The Secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Commissioner of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation have jointly issued an administrative order modifying the recommendations regarding the movement of potentially infested ash logs and firewood in Vermont.

The order aims to address forest health concerns by minimizing the risk of spreading EAB to un-infested areas while simplifying the rules to enable limited movement of potentially infested ash logs and firewood.

Under the new order, the following requirements apply:

• EAB flight season (June 1 – September 30): The movement of ash logs and firewood during flight season is now allowed if the transport occurs within and between adjacent EAB-infested towns. However, ash logs and firewood originating from infested towns should not be moved through un-infested towns during flight season.
• Non-flight season (October 1 – May 31): The movement of ash logs and firewood is now allowed within and between adjacent infested towns. The transport of ash wood through un-infested towns is allowed if there are no stops within un-infested towns and the ash wood is received and stored at the same destination within the infested town.

“This order takes advantage of seasonal differences in the insect’s behavior,” said Josh Halman, Forest Health Program Manager at FPR. “We want to facilitate movement of ash wood when risks are low while preventing new infestations.”

For the full text of the joint executive order, visit Joint Order Regarding the Movement of Ash Wood Infested with Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).

Ash wood sourced from towns that are not infested should still be handled as outlined in Vermont’s Slow the Spread Recommendations.

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation offers Emerald Ash Borer and Ash Tree Management resources tailored to homeowners, private forest landowners, professional forest managers, and municipalities.