DEC tickets drivers for transporting firewood

(05/26/10) As seasonal residents and tourists start returning to the Adirondack North Country, the Department of Environmental Conservation is stepping up enforcement of bans against transporting firewood.

State environment officials are worried that visitors from other parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario will bring in wood infested with invasive insects.

Officials in these areas confirmed the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer, Hemlock Wooly Adeljid and Asian Longhorn Beetle. Each could devastate northern New York forests. But there are early signs that the DEC's efforts to contain--and even eliminate--these bugs are paying off.

Jerry Carlson is the department's chief of forest health and protection. He tells Jonathan Brown that after two years of trying to educate the public about the dangers of hauling infested firewood, the DEC is taking action.