On Sept. 17, 30,000 visitors swarmed BugFest, an annual event at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. While many are adventurous and take a bite out of dishes with six-legged ingredients, the N.C. Forest Service and Plant Industry Division encouraged festival-goers not to take risks when it comes to firewood. You see, firewood […]
Sweet summertime, fireflies, campfires and roasted marshmallows. They just go together. School will be out soon and camping will commence. When making your checklist for items to bring on your camping trip, there’s one that should be left off the list if you’re traveling farther than 50 miles from home: firewood! That’s right, leave that wood […]
Laurel wilt is a devastating non-native disease of redbay trees and other plants in the laurel family in the southeastern U.S. Native to Southeast Asia, it was first detected near Savannah, Ga., in the early 2000s and has since spread to eight additional Southern states. It has already killed an estimated half a billion trees […]
Gloves, hats, and scarves have finally emerged after a mild start to our winter. Keeping a home warm is no easy feat, and furnaces and fireplaces are being used with more regularity now that colder temperatures are upon us. With the use of firewood increasing each winter, users are again encouraged to keep firewood local […]
Is your tree at risk? How would you even know? Trees may not need an annual visit to the doctor, but they do need some conscientious care every now and then. August is the right time to see if your tree is in need of such care because it is officially Tree Check Month. Tree […]
In 2013, N.C. ash trees met their match, the emerald ash borer, for the very first time. At least, that’s when we first knew about it. In reality, the invasive wood-borer had likely already been here, killing ash trees for several years before it was detected. Since the first finding in the state, known emerald […]
The emerald ash borer is on the move once again, and this time it has made quite a leap. Last month, the tree-killing, invasive insect was detected for the first time in Wayne County, 73 miles from the nearest known infestation in Vance County. An observant staff member at the Cherry Research Farm in Goldsboro […]
Another one bites the dust! During recent winter surveys by the N.C. Forest Service, laurel wilt was detected for the first time in Duplin County. Laurel wilt is a devastating invasive disease of redbay trees. This new find makes Duplin County the seventh county in the state in which the disease had been found. Previously, […]
Thousands of visitors to the N.C. State Fair got a new accessory and the chance to spread word about the N.C. Forest Service Don’t Move Firewood campaign. Each visitor to the Fair Forest had the opportunity to answer a 10-question quiz in the Forest Service’s tent. A successful quiz netted participants a red drawstring backpack with the “don’t move firewood” message […]