# Firewood into California... rejected at the border coming home



## bbally

Had to stop on I-15 to be inspected going into California.

What is that?

Uh hickory wood..

You will have to off load that here....

Not a chance.

If you unload it I don't have to do paperwork and you can go on your way

I am traveling directly up I-15 to 95 and out of state back to Colorado. 35 miles or so.

You can not have bark fire wood in the state of California without it having been inspected

Oh I see even though I am not stopping, not going near any hardwood forests, I can not travel on this road with the firewood.

Yes, so will you unload it now so we can move on with life?

What costs the state of California more, me unloading it or you having to do the paperwork to reject me and the contents of my rig?

Going to take an hour to do the paperwork so that would be most expensive for the state and take the most time for you.

OK that is what I want to do

Unload it?

No do the paperwork and cost the state the most money

But it will delay you almost an hour

I got all day to get home, this will be fun

Sir if you just unload the wood you can be on your way

Sir if you would just give me a travel permit to travel through the state on the route I described neither of us will be inconvienced

I can not do that.. we don't allow that type of permit

Then I guess we are stuck doing the paperwork and costing the state as much as possible. Lets get started

You really mean it?

Yes I find when faced with idiotic bureacracy the best method is to ensure the taxpayers get their money wasted in the finest possible manner under the state law.

You know this is not my doing..

Yes I understand that.. you understand how totally stupid this rule is for a transport through the state with no stops?

We are not allowed to give a transport permit

Ok then lets get on with the paperwork of rejecting me officially so we can both do what is in our own best interest, you for the state and me for liberty.

Ok pull over past the white lines and bring you license with you to the office building.

Will do thanks!


SMF folks I want to know how you guys that cross that border deal with this stupid crap?

They made me go around through bullhead city and up through Arizona.


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## sumosmoke

What a crock of crap ... seriously ....


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## scarbelly

Where did you get stopped? I live here and I have never heard of that rule? How much wood did you have? My Son in Law is a CHP and I will call and ask if he has ever heard of it


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## bbally

Department of Ag inspection on I-15 coming in out of Havasu City.


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## placebo

Points to you my friend! Way to make a stand, I love it. Only thing I can figure is perhaps they are worried about some new type of pest getting introduced to the state. Remember those dreaded fruit flies?


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## mballi3011

Florida's looking better all the time ha Zane. Now that was a load of crap and me and that cop would have a ball filling out the papers and playing with the pencils sitting here on the group W bench. "alice resturant"


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## bbally

I am sure it is blight.  California does not have blight up in the mountains.  I was going no where near a Hardwood Forest on the route I described.

The guy did try to say something about an accident and the wood scattering, unfortunately it was just as a placarded semi-was going through with Sulphuric Acid, I pointed to it and suggested it would cause more of a problem in an "accident" if we are going to play "what if" next.


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## meateater

Now that is funny, about 15 years ago I was going from Las Vegas to Calif. I had a small box truck with a metal cage in the back with a mean old 12' Reticulated Python in at and got stopped at the AG station. They wanted to know what was in the box. I told them I don't know, I'm just the messenger. The girl opened that box and turned white as it was huffing away. They sent me on my way really quick!


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## forluvofsmoke

Oh man, this is priceless!

I have heard of similar situations, and, no, they will not bend an inch, not even a millimeter...I find how you handled your case with the AG rep very dignified,...and hilarious...poor fella must have been chuckling after you drove away, knowing you had very valid points to add to the discussion, and realizing how silly the whole situation is...I would have paid good money to see this! Hey, maybe they had video of it and we'll see it on Fox Reality Channel!!!!!! HAH-HAH-HAH!!!!!!!!!

I know it could have been very frustrating, but it sounds like you just took a ridiculous situation and had some fun with it. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Nicely done!

Eric


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## timtimmay

Silly bureaucrat....


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## caveman

Wow.  And I live here.  (Puts his head in hand, shaking it in shame.)


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## scarbelly

I spoke to a CHP buddy and he has never heard of it - Son in law is out on the street right now so could not reach him - Must be an Agriculture thing - I know we have been under a med fly quarantine here for several months


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## bassman

Some guys get to have all the fun!  Glad you got him, Bob.


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## sweet chops bbq

Maybe he had a hidden agenda and wanted the stash of fresh Hickory for his own smokes????


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## sweet chops bbq

Dog gone Californians...Wait a minute! Thats me. Seems like there are better things to be looking for at the border.


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## acemakr

Any more questions on why CA is broke (ok, out of money but the other broke also). Hey Governator, maybe you could make another commercial on why we need to go to CA?


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## richoso1

This law is governed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but enforced in some needed states.



 



 



 
*Going Camping? Don't Bring Firewood*
[font=Verdana, Helvetica]August 2008[/font] Did you know that by transporting firewood you may unintentionally spread invasive insects and diseases that can destroy trees and reshape entire forests? State and federal quarantines attempt to prevent such damage by prohibiting firewood transport into or out of certain areas, or limiting transport to a specified radius.
Examples of invasive species that can travel in firewood include:
The emerald ash borer, a beetle from Asia that kills American ash trees within one to four years of infestation. It is spreading throughout the Midwest and some southern and mid-Atlantic states, but has also shown up at campgrounds outside of these regions.
The Asian longhorned beetle, whose larvae kill mature trees by feeding on the heartwood and inhibiting the trees’ vascular system. It has been found in Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, and poses a tremendous threat if it spreads.
_Sirex noctilio_, a wood-boring wasp that can kill trees (mainly pine) in a matter of months by injecting a fungus into the wood to feed its larvae. An adult wasp can carry the fungus as far as 100 miles. It has been found in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
Sudden oak death, a forest disease caused by the fungus _Phytophthora ramorum_, which has affected several tree species in California and Oregon.
Not to my liking, but they do have some rules that can really agitate someone traveling. I've had problems trying to bring fresh NM chile into Cali, but if it's been roasted, you're ok. Go figure.


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## bcfishman

Illegal wood... Unacceptable...

Illegal aliens.... come on in, plenty of work for you to do.


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## gnubee

Good on ya for standing your ground. The guy probably either admires the heck out of you or thinks you need therapy. Or both.

The Dept of Agriculture may be fun to fool with but when crossing the US/Canada border, do not play with those folks, they have no sense of ha ha.

In the 1980's two of us riding Honda V45 Sabers were crossing at the Osoyoos/Oroville crossing. My buddy said jokingly to the US guard " I have a 21 cubic foot frost free refrigerator and my pal ( Pointing to Me ) has all the drugs in his saddlebags. The guy motioned me forward asked what I had to declare. I said nothing. He said ok on your way. But They kept Harvey for about 6 hours while all the rookies took turns grilling him till he sweat off about 50 pounds. I set up the tent at the State park in Oroville then went to the bar to wait for him. Trust me on this one, Harv was one sorry puppy who will never joke at the border again. 

Crossing at the same place a year later I had 6  90 cc dirt bikes on my trailer as part of a convoy going to a motocross race, one of the other fathers had all the larger 125s and 250 bikes on his trailer. There were 15 bikes in all on trailers. The guard said it would be $35 bux for the trailer and $5 bux per bike. I noticed a sign that said that empty trailers were exempt. So I asked if we unloaded the trailer and I get the kids to push their bikes across the line how much. He said well in that case nothing but he'd prefer that the bikes be pushed by an adult. So the adults in the group and I began to unload the trailers. I just got one bike off my trailer and my friend got one of his bikes off when a senior officer came out of the US building Whoa! Then asked his guard what gives? He listened to our plan. Then he kind of rolled his eyes and said oh for petes sake put that bike back and on the trailer. You're way, no charge. We thanked him and left that place. Nice guy used his head and We saved us $145.00 that day. After that we were usually just waved across. 

For the most part the International border is no hassle but sometimes it can be I have seen rude people get the shock of their lives at the border. 

There is a good commercial out showing a Canadian couple at the border wearing team Canada Hockey Shirts, their faces painted with red maple leafs. A US guard is standing there with their detached car door held in his hands their stripped apart car in the background.  He says to the triumphant Canadian fans, Hope you folks weren't in a hurry. 

I don't care hoo ya are that funny!!!


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## beer-b-q

Hey maybe the Ag guy was practicing for an interview for a job in Washington DC.  He would be a shoo in...


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## luvdatritip

I believe that would be Interstate 40.


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## pops6927

Living 10 miles from the Canadian border for 46 years, we'd heard and seen such scenarios many many times..I'd witnessed it personally crossing the border to and fro several times (used to go to a chiropractor in Cornwall across from Ogdensburg a couple times a week for a year or so).   The border crossing guards on either side would pull you over and literally strip your car if you so much as joked having a gun under the seat or if you'd smoked a joint 10 miles earlier down the road and they could smell it.  And, they had no obligation whatsoever to put it back; they threw everything in your back seat and trunk and you had to drive away like that, your expense to reconstruct your vehicle if they didn't find anything; it was impounded if they did.
A customer of mine would buy all the AM pocket radios I could get my hands on from my store; he said he made 'metal detectors' out of them.  However, he later told me what he actually did with them.  The way he explained it was that everything had a frequency of some kind.  Once he found what frequency it was, he could triangulate on it and locate that item or person even in a 5 mile radius.  He could send his wife out to hide from him and locate her within 10 feet.  He also used it to discover hidden objects if he knew the frequency.  Marijuana had a specific frequency and he would go to the border crossing and sit in the guard house and could point to which cars had hidden stash.  They would pull them over (this was at Mexican crossings, not Canadian, once I was here in Texas) and 'dust' their vehicles (their term, aka tear them down into dust) and his accuracy rate was 98%.  This was in the 90's.
I'd gathered another batch of radios for him as late as 2002 (about 30 or more).  I'd called and left him messages for him to pick them up which he'd usually come in the next day or so, but didn't hear from him.  Two weeks later another customer who I knew came in to pick them up for him, he was a Federal agent, said he wouldn't need any more and never saw him  or the Fed again.  Guess the government swallowed up him and his invention, right after 911.


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## biggeorge50

In New York State, uncertified wood can't be transported more than 50 miles (in a straight line) from where it was cut.  You can drive it around for three days if you want, just don't cross that 50 mile radius line.


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## dealsbyjason

Way to go, make them do the paper work!


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## hdsmoke

Yes, half of Ohio is under the Emerald Ash Borer quarantine...and my county was just added to the list for 2010.  They still have not found any borers but all surrounding couties have.  They had traps up in and around ash trees all year last year.  So, since the majority of people wouldnt know ash from pine they restrict ALL firewood within the quarantine area.  Funny thing is, i went camping last year (I was NOT in the q-tine area at the time) and brought firewood to the campground (which WAS in the q-tine area).  So, i get there check in start unloading the pickup and some guy comes over to tell me i cant bring my wood into the campground that i need to BUY their wood.  Um, no...try to explain that the wood was harvested in a county NOT in the quarantine area so i could take it anywhere i please and that it didnt really matter anyway as they ARE in the quarantine area...so they cant take wood out of their county to mine...not vice versa.  This went on for a good 5 minutes...finally im like, ok...I'll buy a bundle of your wood but i am still unloading mine and burning it.  Yeah, he just wanted to sell me a bundle of wood at $7!  Now, im sure the majority of people have no idea about any of that whole quarantine thing...but i did.  Let alone the fact that the wood was all dead elm and junk maple!


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## deltadude

invasive species are no joke!  I loved BBally's story, it is frustrating, and if Gov. is anything it is in-efficient.  Hell I got a ticket for having the driver and passenger windows tinted, on a car I bought used, the kicker (I was at the highway patrol and they inspected the car for another issue, I was at DMV 3 times and their agents inspected the car each time), none said a word about the tinted windows. It pisses you off.

But we all have read about different kinds of walking catfish, and many other invasive species of fish ruining habitat and killing fisheries.  The same is happening with plants and trees.  Give the guy credit he was at least trying to do his job,


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## hdsmoke

This is very true...the midwest is going to lose the vast majority of its Ash Trees.  Which really is a tradgedy...just like the American Elm (Dutch Elm Disease)...and American Chestnut (chestnut blight).  Its too bad these things happen.  We lose a lot of valuable wildlife habitat and beautiful trees.


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## mgwerks

I understand about these diseases, as I am a frequent camper and we travel through many states on our trips. I had one guy tell me I couldn't transport mesquite because of that. Mesquite!

As for the BS at the CA border, next time cover the wood or place it in other things. I wouldn't transport forbidden kinds, but when it comes to things which I know are innocuous I consider the game to be on.

When it comes to the CA/US border, the above posters are right - do NOT joke with these guys. I had to bite my tongue a lot. Going into Canada, we were stopped by the very nice young man and questioned for no less than 15 minutes. During our shared time there at the booth, about 25% of the questions consisted of repeatedly asking about guns owned, what type, how many, did you have any with you - over and over again in between other things. I readily listed all the foods - processed and fresh - that we were importing, and he didn't care about them at all (including some I found out later were proscribed). He was very nice, but it got old after a while.

I'm very familiar with that issue in cross-border travel, and have never been tempted to try and cheat it. It would never be worth it. Now, I am certain they don't process every man & wife in that manner, or the line would have been backed up across the bridge into Buffalo. I can only account for it happening because we were in a 4wd F350 Crewcab Diesel with full bumper treatments and Texas plates. I told him I didn't have any horses or oil wells either.

Coming back, the US agent was a complete a$$. We didn't have to unload; didn't even have to show our certified copies of birth certificates or anything. He just had a crappy attitude and seemed to derive pleasure out of holding us up.

Sorry about the rant.


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## fire it up

Good old Government wasting our money once again...will it ever end?
You know, one day I have high hopes that America will get back on track like we were back in the 50s.


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## stircrazy

what is the charge for, I have never paid a charge for taking a trailer into the US???

Steve


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## nwdave

But what if your Q wood is storebought and still in the original wrapper?  A close friend just recently returned from his winter trips through the south including a right turn in california and heading north and was carrying some PECAN logs in store packages.  Oh, Oh, I might know a smuggler
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






.  

To our Diesel F350 driving cousin from Texas, did the US Agent have you shut off your engine?  I live in a community 20 miles south of the border and have a Diesel shop in Canada work on my truck.  Never a problem, show the passport, no rolling of the coal and shut off baby so they can think.  Heck, they're human too.  When you have frequent 1/2 hour to 1 hour backups at the crossings on the weekends, even one of us might be a tad short on the attitude.  Yessir, Nosir, and thank you sir.  Works for me.


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## smoke itif ya got it

At this point I'd settle for the 60s again or the 70s for that matter!


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## chainsaw

In that same vein-common sense(normal people, normal world) does not enter into this equation. Assume a 50% really stupid posture squared-and you will still be short when dealing with government types (30 plus years as a VA/Military/Veteran status)


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## gto driver

Havasu City on I-15???  Where it that?  I-15 does not go to the California/Mexican border.


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## timtimmay

Not international, just in and out of CA


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## northern greenhorn

Welcome to the land of the free...


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## cliffcarter

Maine, the second most liberal state in the union after California, enforces the same rules. You can get around it if you can certify that the wood you are transporting has been heated to 160F for 90 minutes. Canada and Bermuda also have similar restrictions.


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## erain

Funny, i live in minnesota and i knew about that issue and have never been there. it all has to do with bringing in species of insects and stuff that can cause damage to native forests. i am sure it was a inconvenience but in the long run it is for the best. up here if you camp at a state campground all firewood must be purchased and must come from within a  close proximity.

here is a us map with states that have firewood transport regulations...

http://www.dontmovefirewood.org/protect-trees/state-state-information/index.html


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## nwdave

Thanks for that post.  It'll help me decide where to travel this summer as I drag the smoker along to make the neighbors envious.


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## venture

Unfortunately, I live in California.  I-15 is a long way from Havasu, but I think I know where this might have happened.  Also, I don't recall where I-15 and 95 meet?  They are both north/south roads.

I am sure the concern here was that diseased wood could be taken to a campsite and contaminate a forest, not that there are many forests in that part of the world.

My recollection of the history of this is that there was a dispute between California and Arizona over fruit.  California's response was to set up inspection stations and deny entry of fruit from Arizona into California.  They used to do the same thing at the Mexican border crossings.  I am sure the justification was disease prevention.  I am equally sure the real reason was ag competition between the two states, basically because of oranges.

Meanwhile, they usually pass 90 percent of cars without even stopping them.  They couldn't just close the place and save the money.  Too many state union people employed there. 

Don't you wish you lived in California so you could pay your taxes for nonsense like this?


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## richoso1

You're probably speaking of the Yermo inspection station. You're right , most cars just get flagged on..


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