Re: Bringing firewood into Yosemite.

I read on Yosemite's website that they discourage bringing firewood from more than 50 miles away from the park. I thought they changed that to they now prohibit all firewood being brought into the Park. Aybody know for sure?

There is a general firewood in the confirmation emails, "Bug Alert The US Department of Agriculture has imposed quarantine on firewood from several states. Do NOT transport any firewood from Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, New York, or New Jersey." Last year, I remember there was a banner on recreation.gov too about not bringing in firewood, but don't remember the distant.

Last year I bought it at Vons in Oakhurst. A few dollars cheaper than in the valley.

They always have wood at the Save-Mart supermarket in oakdale right off the highway. I'm sure it would be cheaper than buying it in Yosemite.

It's generally a recommendation.

The time I bought firewood in the Valley, it was marked as almond wood from a company based in the Fresno area. I don't think it's likely that you're going to find much firewood that's actually produced within 50 miles of Yosemite, but I guess th enumber is a general recommendation to try and limit how far firewood might possibly come from. Still - I don't know how effective that might be. Clovis is just under the 50 mile recommendation, I'm pretty sure if you go to Wal-Mart that their firewood is probably from out of state, although the supplier changes a lot. It's a bit tough to actually control it voluntarily, since contracts for firewood probably come from multiple suppliers which use multiple sources.

As as was noted, there's a USDA quarantine on firewood from certain states. There have been various insect and tree disease infestations, and they're trying to reduce the chance of it from spreading to areas without natural predators.

If one wants to save money on purchasing firewood for Yosemite, the most economical method is to purchase a Wood Permit from the Park Service El Portal Fiscal Office either by mail or in person. The cost of the permit is $10 per cord with a 6 cords per year limit. The wood lots where one can collect the firewood are located in El Portal, Foresta, Hodgdon Meadows, Wawona, and Yosemite Valley. The Yosemite Valley wood lot (unless they have recently changed its location) is at the junction of the Old Big Oak Flat Road and Northside Drive. One can confirm the current locations of the wood lots by contacting the El Portal Fiscal Office at 1-209-379-1869.

Here's the official spiel from the Park Service regarding the Wood Permits:

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Wood permits are available for anyone to cut wood from Yosemite wood lots. Wood lots are located in El Portal, Foresta, Hodgdon Meadows, Wawona, and Yosemite Valley. Gathering wood is prohibited in Yosemite Valley, the Sequoia groves, and above 9,600 ft elevation. Permits are issued in the El Portal Fiscal Office (by mail or in person) at $10 per cord with a 6 cords per year max. Wood is for personal use only—not for sale or exchange. Contact the Fiscal Office for more information at (209) 379-1869.

Wood may also be available for sale by the park concessioner.

Campfires may be built using established fire ringslocated in developed campgrounds. Campfires in Yosemite Valley are limited to the hours between 5–10pm from May 1 through September 30 to help improve air quality. Unattended campfires must be thoroughly extinguished.

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http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/forest pests_8-09.pdf


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plawrence
If one wants to save money on purchasing firewood for Yosemite, the most economical method is to purchase a Wood Permit from the Park Service El Portal Fiscal Office either by mail or in person. The cost of the permit is $10 per cord with a 6 cords per year limit. The wood lots where one can collect the firewood are located in El Portal, Foresta, Hodgdon Meadows, Wawona, and Yosemite Valley. The Yosemite Valley wood lot (unless they have recently changed its location) is at the junction of the Old Big Oak Flat Road and Northside Drive. One can confirm the current locations of the wood lots by contacting the El Portal Fiscal Office at 1-209-379-1869.

Well it maybe most economical it terms of price per unit of wood, but that is not factoring in the associated costs and it certainly is not the most practical. The wood in the wood lot is almost exclusively logs, a lot of it quite large, 3+ ft. The smaller diameter logs seem to disappear quickly. So you would need to bring a chainsaw, gas, etc to cut it into rounds and a maul/wedges to split it. And first you need to find and go to the El Portal Fiscal Office.

First, you don't necessarily need a chainsaw (and the fuel to power it). A good axe can chop a good amount of the logs down to size. Yes, you'll need to use some of your muscles and it can be a workout. But isn't that part of the fun of being outdoors and "roughing it", right?

I was just pointing out this alternate source for approved firewood as an economical option. Of course, one can pay more for the convenience of having the firewood wood already chopped down to size, split, dried, and bundled up. As already mentioned, there are stores outside of the park that sell ready to use firewood for less than DNC does inside the park. The question is where does the firewood from these outside sources come from? Is it from logs that were within 50 miles of the park radius?

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Me thinks you are getting off subject here. I have wood to bring from home, my question is can I, or is Yosemite barring wood brought from more than 50 miles away?

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mtn man

I have wood to bring from home, my question is can I, or is Yosemite barring wood brought from more than 50 miles away?

Yes, you are still allowed to bring in you own firewood even if it's from more than 50 miles away, but it's strongly discouraged to help keep invasive pests at bay.

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It is probably also better to buy firewood "locally" too since you decrease the transportation of "heavy" material and gas in the long run.

You're not even allowed to take firewood over county lines here in Ohio. Good old invasive species.

keep in mind, that you can only have a campfire until 10:30 pm each night, and NONE at all in the morning! i wasn't aware of that until last week when i camped in the valley.... kinda puts a damper on things when young kids look forward to a fire as the camp.

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forrestranger
keep in mind, that you can only have a campfire until 10:30 pm each night, and NONE at all in the morning! i wasn't aware of that until last week when i camped in the valley.... kinda puts a damper on things when young kids look forward to a fire as the camp.

Yet another reason to not camp in the Valley during the summer season.

We weren't prepared for this our very first time, thinking we can use the campfire to heat our lunch. We ended just eating cereal. Since then, we have beening bringing a petr. stove.