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North Carolina, 2026 season, 2 offices

North Carolina Firewood Permits 2026: Prices, Seasons and Rules

One Forest Service permit covers firewood cutting on all four national forests in North Carolina, Pisgah is collecting permit free through December 2026 after Hurricane Helene, and a spongy moth quarantine in the northeast corner of the state controls firewood leaving it.

2
Offices selling permits
national forest and BLM
On the office page
Price per cord
set district by district
Quarantine
Bringing wood in
North Carolina Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division
2
Pests named
spongy moth, emerald ash borer
Office by office

Where to buy a firewood permit in North Carolina

2 offices in North Carolina sell a personal use firewood permit. Each office posts its own price on its permit page.

North Carolina's state forests do not sell firewood cutting permits, and DuPont State Recreational Forest allows no campfires at all.

National Forests in North Carolina

Permit on request

USDA Forest Service

Price
Permits cost $20 to $40 and are good for six months from date of issue.
Household limit
4 to 8 cords of wood, per person, per year
Wood you may cut
down and dead wood
Cutting season
Sold on request
Where to buy
in person at a district ranger office, often by appointment
Permits cost $20.00 to $40.00 and are good for six months from date of issue. The permit allows you to gather 4 to 8 cords of wood, per person, per year, from the National Forest in North Carolina.
Firewood Permit, National Forests in North Carolina, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

Camping fires are the one use that needs no permit; hauling wood home needs one.

Firewood may be collected without a permit for on-site camping use only. All other uses require a firewood permit from a district office to gather down and dead wood in one of our National Forests in North Carolina.
National Forests in North Carolina. Read it at the source

The permit runs six months and covers a fixed volume for the year.

The permit allows you to gather 4 to 8 cords of wood, per person, per year, from the National Forest in North Carolina.
National Forests in North Carolina. Read it at the source

Several classes of ground are off limits to collecting.

Wood can be gathered anywhere on the National Forest in North Carolina EXCEPT: Recreation Areas Wilderness Areas Marked Timber Sale Areas. Research Natural Areas, Experimental Forests or Special Interest Areas
National Forests in North Carolina. Read it at the source

Keep the vehicle on open roads.

Vehicles can only be operated on open roads. Cross country driving is prohibited.
National Forests in North Carolina. Read it at the source

Bring your vehicle details to the district office, because the permit is written against them.

To purchase a permit, you will need to know the year, make, model, color, license plate number, state of issue, and size of truck bed of the vehicle that you will be using to gather fuel wood.
National Forests in North Carolina. Read it at the source

Show the permit on the dash while you work, and read the back of it for district specific limits.

Display your permit on your dashboard while gathering wood.
National Forests in North Carolina. Read it at the source

National Forests in North Carolina firewood permit page

Pisgah National Forest

2026 season

USDA Forest Service

Price
no permit required
Wood you may cut
downed wood
Cutting season
From Nov 19, 2024
Where to buy
no permit needed; contact the local ranger district about where to gather
You are invited gather firewood for personal use in the Pisgah National Forest- from now through December 2026.
Permit-free firewood collection extended through 2026 on the Pisgah National Forest, National Forests in North Carolina, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

This is a storm cleanup measure, and it runs to the end of 2026.

You do not need a permit to collect firewood on Pisgah National Forest from November 19, 2024 to December 2026, in an attempt to reduce woody debris and downed trees in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Pisgah National Forest. Read it at the source

Gather from the roadside on any part of the forest that has reopened, and ask the district where that is.

Firewood can be gathered from along all open roads on any re-opened portion of the Pisgah National Forest.
Pisgah National Forest. Read it at the source

Areas still closed after the storm are off limits, and vehicles stay on cleared road.

Do not gather firewood from closed areas. All motorized vehicles must stay on clear roadways. Do not block traffic.
Pisgah National Forest. Read it at the source

The wood is yours to burn, not to sell, and it should be burned near where it was cut.

Firewood collected is for personal use only and may not be sold or exchanged. Firewood must be collected and used locally so as to prevent the spread of invasive species.
Pisgah National Forest. Read it at the source

The neighbouring Nantahala is not part of this and still sells permits.

Permits are still required to collect firewood on the Nantahala National Forests and can be obtained at the forest’s three local district ranger offices.
Pisgah National Forest. Read it at the source

Pisgah National Forest firewood permit page

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Moving firewood

Can you bring firewood into North Carolina?

North Carolina has a quarantine on the books, which means untreated firewood from outside the line may not come in. The rule is written by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division, and it sits below in its own words.

Quarantine

North Carolina restricts moving firewood into or within the state.

Firewood leaving the spongy moth quarantine in Currituck County and part of Dare County needs a certificate or permit unless it moves as an outdoor household article. Everywhere else in the state the rule is an ask rather than a law: state parks tell campers to buy wood near where they will burn it.

Agency
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division
Certified or treated wood
The rule does not turn on a certificate
Pests named
spongy moth, emerald ash borer
Movement of the pest Spongy Moth or other Regulated Articles from Quarantine Areas is prohibited except under certificate or permit. Certificates or permits may be obtained from a NCDA&CS Plant Protection Specialist in your area, or by contacting the Plant Protection Section at 919-707-3730.
Plant Industry - Regulated Articles Spongy Moth, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

What the rule says

Nothing regulated leaves the quarantine area without paperwork from the state.

Movement of the pest Spongy Moth or other Regulated Articles from Quarantine Areas is prohibited except under certificate or permit.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division. Read it at the source

Firewood is on the year round regulated list, with an exception for wood moving with a household.

Firewood (unless moved as an outdoor household article).
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division. Read it at the source

The quarantine covers one whole county and part of another, and dates to 1988.

A quarantine was imposed in North Carolina in 1988 to regulate the movement of articles , which could potentially harbor life stages of spongy moth, to unregulated areas.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division. Read it at the source

State parks ask campers not to bring wood in at all, and every camping park sells its own; this is the Division of Parks and Recreation's park rules page, not the quarantine.

Please do not transport firewood into our state parks, because you could unknowingly spread dangerous insects and diseases, such as the emerald ash borer, which can harm the natural resources. Buy firewood locally where you intend to burn it, or buy heat-treated firewood.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division. Read it at the source

Collecting your own wood inside a state park is usually not allowed.

Gathering firewood is generally prohibited but may be allowed in some parks.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Plant Industry Division. Read it at the source

The insects and diseases named in the North Carolina rule are spongy moth and emerald ash borer. 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
When to cut

Firewood cutting season in North Carolina

Each office sets its own window, and most of them close it when fire danger rises or the roads soften. The dates that office has posted:

  • Pisgah National ForestFrom Nov 19, 2024

Offices close their gates for weather and fire restrictions inside these windows, so the office’s own page is the one to check the week you go.

Nearby

What a cord costs in the states next door

A permit is only good on the land the office manages, so a cheaper cord across the line still has to obey whatever North Carolina says about firewood arriving. The nearest states posting a price by the cord:

  1. Georgia$5

North Carolina firewood permit questions

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Firewood permits in other states

North Carolina heating oil and propane pricesWhat a gallon costs this winter, and how that compares with a cord.First snow in North CarolinaWhen the first measurable snow usually falls, city by city.North Carolina 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 Permit, National Forests in North Carolina, 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.