Shipping Wood around the world

John,

The restrictions are also within these United States. South Carolina and Kentucky, for instance, have bans on outside woods coming into their states. In Kentucky, they are trying to guard against introducing the Emerald Ash Borer. Not sure about South Carolina.

In the post prior to this one, I commented on two pieces of wood I had brought back with me. Did I consider what I could be bringing back with the wood? Actually, I did. I looked the wood over very closely, examined it for any insect damage, and stripped the bark from the pieces before packing them up. I know, that doesn't mean I didn't bring a hitchhiker along with the wood, but I did consider the possibilities.

Considering the amount of wood blanks brought into the country, versus the number of shipping containers brought into the country, I'd be more inclined to believe that most of the foreign insects we have today were transported here legally as hitch hikers. The ebay sellers aren't sending huge quantities of wood to the US, they are (in most cases) stipping the wood down to the bare bones (meaning they are sending a bandsawed bowl blank that has been wax sealed), and if they want repeat business, they should inform the buyer of any insect damage that might exist on the blank prior to purchase.

Your questions are valid, but I'm not entimologist (spell?) it seems it would take more than 1 or 2 hitch hikers in a 6" bowl blank to create a new US epidemic. Perhaps if I were purchasing a 30" log that was infested I would be creating a problem. There just isn't enough population of an insect being introduced with a bowl blank to be of concern.

My thoughts, JD (Kentucky)

In message , JD writes

Hi JD,

I had been considering this for sometime as I have been looking for interesting species ( almost invariably from outside the UK) at decent prices, and it was actually your post that reminded me. The reason I brought it up, is here in the UK, unless you have a licence to import, and there is documentation back to the mill etc., wood will, if found, be confiscated on landing, and destroyed. IIRC part of the requirement is no bark and correctly kiln dried.

Maybe part of the issue is the devastation we had years ago from Dutch Elm disease. And I recently heard that there as a disease affecting Horse Chestnut, meaning affected trees may need to be destroyed.

When a couple of years ago I was importing machinery from Michigan, the packing crates all had to have appropriate documentation, due to the fear of introducing and disease or insects.

As to how many insects , I wonder. If you take the Adam and Eve scenario to be true, look at the infestation we have caused to this planet :)

As an retired entomologist, I can tell you that even one or two eggs in a piece of wood can cause harm. The USDA APHIS works very hard to avoid these problem. No I didn't work for them . Just had to deal with them on some projects. Most cargo containers that could be carrying a suspected problem are fumigated just before they leave port and arrive here safe. If I were going to bring in a small piece of wood from a foreign land I would try to microwave it, and boil then freeze it if possible, but I would microwave it for sure. USDA APHIS web site is