A common request of both provincially and privately operated campgrounds is that our traveling camper clients not move any type of wood. And although recent attention has been on the Emerald Ash Borer beetle, any type of exotic infestation begins with the movement of simple every day items. Domestic bound overseas pallets which would be an accurate mode of transportation seem far removed from our daily lives but simple crticial thinking would point out that we are surrounded by opportunity to pick up a bug, and not knowing, give it a free ride to a sustaining environment perpetuating infections.

I remember as a child losing many trees on our property to the gypsy moth. Now that I own a campground I am just shy of paranoid of a nasty re occurrence caused by something the same or different. Please....when traveling do not move any type of wood. There are more than 40 buggies on the most wanted list in Ontario! You have better chances of being the cause of an infestation than that of winning any of the potential lotteries on the market!! How do I know? I finished Michelle Boue's University Statistics class with a final mark of 86. Not to mention I had Chemistry class with a Canadian Food Inspection Agent who specialized in bug detection within Ontario. So take it from someone who cares about the greenery in her life. Do not move wood, it has nothing to do with making money off of wood bags delivered to your site...remember any reputable camping establishment will credit you the wood you did not burn while camping with them...it has everything to do with listening to the leaves dance in the wind without the sound of chain saws dominating our backyards and vacation spots. Prevention is better than Reaction to an unwanted change.

How are tree infestations spread?

The human movement of infested materials such as firewood, logs, branches, nursery stock, chips or other wood is the most common way damage has been spread. Research indicates that adult beetle can fly up to 10 km, but generally do not stray from the immediate area when it emerges.

Where have beetle infestations been found in Canada?

The movement of infested firewood or other forest products causing infection has been confirmed in the municipality of Chatham-Kent; the cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto; the counties of Elgin, Essex, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex and Norfolk; the regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York in Ontario; and Carignan and the municipalities of Chambly, Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, Richelieu and Saint-Basile-le-Grand in Quebec.