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Kentucky, 2026 season, 1 office

Kentucky Firewood Permits 2026: Prices, Seasons and Rules

The Daniel Boone National Forest sells a personal use firewood permit online or at a district office for dead and down wood, and Kentucky State Parks turn away out of state firewood at check in unless it is bundled and stamped as certified heat treated.

1
Office selling permits
national forest and BLM
On the office page
Price per cord
set district by district
Certified wood
Bringing wood in
Kentucky State Parks
5
Pests named
emerald ash borer, gypsy moth
Office by office

Where to buy a firewood permit in Kentucky

One office in Kentucky sells a personal use firewood permit. Each office posts its own price on its permit page.

Daniel Boone National Forest

Permit on request

USDA Forest Service

Price
The Daniel Boone National Forest sells firewood permits for $5/CCF* with a minimum purchase of four CCF. The minimum purchase cost for a firewood permit is $20.
Minimum
a minimum purchase of four CCF
Household limit
The maximum removal limit is 20 CCF per individual for up to one year from point of issuance.
Wood you may cut
The permit is valid for cutting dead and down wood only.
Cutting season
Sold on request
Where to buy
Forest Service Special Forest Product E-Permits portal, in person at a district office by appointment
The Daniel Boone National Forest sells firewood permits for $5/CCF* with a minimum purchase of four CCF. The minimum purchase cost for a firewood permit is $20.
Firewood Permits, Daniel Boone National Forest, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

Dead and down only. Live trees, standing dead trees and marked trees are off limits.

The following MAY be harvested: Dead and down trees The following MAY NOT be harvested: Live trees Standing dead trees Trees with paint marks, signs, or national forest tags
Daniel Boone National Forest. Read it at the source

Cutting is confined to a strip beside open roads and parking areas.

The designated harvest area is limited to within 100 feet of the clearing limits of roadways and parking areas.
Daniel Boone National Forest. Read it at the source

Wilderness, campgrounds, hiking trails, highway easements and active timber sales are closed.

You CANNOT harvest within: Wilderness areas Administrative sites Highway easements Along established hiking trails Designated campgrounds Active timber sales or commercial fuelwood blocks Any areas closed to entry by Special Orders
Daniel Boone National Forest. Read it at the source

Carry the paper permit. A photo of it on a phone does not count.

A printed physical permit must be in the permittee's possession and kept readily available while harvesting and transporting products. This permit is nontransferable. A copy of the permit on a mobile device is not acceptable.
Daniel Boone National Forest. Read it at the source

Keep pieces to four feet and leave the machinery at home.

Firewood shall not be moved in piece lengths longer than 4 feet. Do not drive off road when ground conditions may cause excessive rutting or ground damage. The use of portable sawmill equipment, mechanized equipment (tractors, ATVs, etc.) and large capacity vehicles is strictly prohibited.
Daniel Boone National Forest. Read it at the source

Campers can pick up dead and down wood for a campfire without a permit, but it cannot go home with them.

Individuals camping on the Daniel Boone National Forest are welcome to collect dead and down wood for their evening campfire without a permit. Firewood collected without a permit must be used for a campfire on the Forest; it cannot be taken home or taken to private land.
Daniel Boone National Forest. Read it at the source

Daniel Boone National Forest firewood permit page

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Moving firewood

Can you bring firewood into Kentucky?

Kentucky asks that firewood arriving from elsewhere be treated and certified, which is what the stamp on a store bundle means. The rule is written by the Kentucky State Parks, and it sits below in its own words.

Certified wood

Kentucky asks that firewood brought onto public land be certified heat treated wood.

Kentucky State Parks will not take firewood carried in from another state unless it is bundled and stamped as certified heat treated by the federal government or a state. Wood bought inside Kentucky is allowed if you can show the receipt, and campground staff check at check in.

Agency
Kentucky State Parks
Certified or treated wood
Heat treated and certified wood may come in
Pests named
emerald ash borer, gypsy moth, hemlock woolly adelgid, laurel wilt disease, Asian long-horned beetle
Firewood brought in from out-of-state is prohibited unless it is bundled stamped USDA or State certified heat treated wood.
Firewood Policy, Kentucky State Parks, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

What the rule says

Out of state wood is only allowed when it is bundled and stamped certified heat treated.

Firewood brought in from out-of-state is prohibited unless it is bundled stamped USDA or State certified heat treated wood.
Kentucky State Parks. Read it at the source

Wood bought inside Kentucky is allowed, but bring the receipt.

Firewood purchased in-state (receipt of sale needed) is allowed.
Kentucky State Parks. Read it at the source

Campground staff check wood when you arrive.

Campground staff is instructed to check campers at check-in to see if firewood is being brought in from in-state (receipt of sale needed) or is bundled, stamped USDA or State certified heat treated wood.
Kentucky State Parks. Read it at the source

The insects and diseases named in the Kentucky rule are emerald ash borer, gypsy moth, hemlock woolly adelgid, laurel wilt disease and Asian long-horned beetle. A beetle covers a few hundred yards in a season on its own wings, and several hundred miles in an afternoon in the bed of a pickup, which is the whole reason the rule exists.

A slender metallic green beetle about half an inch long resting on pale cracked tree bark
The emerald ash borer, photographed by USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine. It flies only a short way on its own; a load of untreated firewood carries it as far as the truck goes, which is why more states name it in their firewood rules than any other pest. “Plant Protection and Quarantine (34954841290)”, APHIS.gov, Public domain

Kentucky firewood permit questions

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Firewood permits in other states

Kentucky heating oil and propane pricesWhat a gallon costs this winter, and how that compares with a cord.First snow in KentuckyWhen the first measurable snow usually falls, city by city.Kentucky Christmas tree permitsThe other permit the same ranger district sells each winter.Firewood permits by stateEvery price by the cord in one table, with the rule on moving wood.
An open pole woodshed in a spruce clearing, one bay filled with stacked cordwood, a hydraulic log splitter in the foreground
An Alaska woodshed in summer with the winter stacked and the splitter still out. A cord is a stack four feet by four feet by eight feet, and that is the unit nearly every permit is priced in. “Alaska woodshed”, Keith Parker, CC BY-SA 2.0

Compiled September 22, 2026 from Firewood Permits, Daniel Boone National Forest, USDA Forest Service and the other agency pages linked beside each quote above. Prices, seasons and quarantine boundaries change, so the agency’s own page is the one to read before you load a truck. Every state is in the national firewood permit guide.