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Pennsylvania, 2026 season, 2 offices

Pennsylvania Firewood Permits 2026: Prices, Seasons and Rules

Pennsylvania sells personal firewood permits on both the Allegheny National Forest and the state forest districts, and the state Department of Agriculture's spotted lanternfly quarantine regulates moving firewood of any species in and out of quarantined counties.

2
Offices selling permits
1 federal, 1 state
$5 to $20
Price per cord
2 priced by the cord
Quarantine
Bringing wood in
Pennsylvania Dept of Agriculture
1
Pest named
spotted lanternfly
Office by office

Where to buy a firewood permit in Pennsylvania

2 offices in Pennsylvania sell a personal use firewood permit, 1 of them federal and 1 run by the state. A cord runs $5 to $20 depending on which office you buy from.

Pennsylvania state park campgrounds do not sell or supply firewood and ask campers to burn wood from nearby: "Firewood is not provided. Cutting live trees or standing trees and the operation of chainsaws are prohibited. Firewood may contain non-native insects and plant diseases. Bringing firewood into the park from other areas may accidentally spread pest insects and diseases that threaten park resources and the health of our forests. Campers should use local firewood. Do not take wood home and do not leave firewood. Burn it!" (Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, RV and Tent Campsites).

Allegheny National Forest

Permit on request

USDA Forest Service

Price
$5 per cord
Minimum
Minimum Purchase: $20 for 4 cords
Household limit
Maximum Purchase: 10 cords per year, per household
Wood you may cut
dead trees only, with no live branches and at least 25% of the bark lost
Cutting season
Oct 1 to Sep 30
Where to buy
in person at a Forest Service office during business hours, by mail with the printed permit form
We sell firewood in cords. The price is $5.00 per cord. Minimum Purchase: $20.00 for 4 cords Maximum Purchase: 10 cords per year, per household
Firewood Permits, Allegheny National Forest, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

Only dead trees count, and the forest defines what dead means.

We only allow the cutting and removal of dead trees. Dead trees have no live branches and have lost at least 25% of their bark.
Allegheny National Forest. Read it at the source

Leave wildlife trees standing and keep stumps low.

If you cut a dead-standing tree, the remaining stump may not exceed 10 inches in height.
Allegheny National Forest. Read it at the source

Cutting is confined to a 150 foot band along open Forest Service roads, and vehicles stay on the road.

Firewood cutting and gathering is allowed ONLY within 150 feet of open Forest Service roads. These roads are designated by a standard Forest Service road number. Motorized vehicles must be kept on roads.
Allegheny National Forest. Read it at the source

Set distances keep cutters away from streams, wetlands and vernal pools.

Within 10 feet of stream channels. Within 200 feet of wilderness trout streams, remote trout streams and Class A trout streams. Within 25 feet of wetlands, including springs and seeps. Within 100 feet of vernal pools.
Allegheny National Forest. Read it at the source

Pieces have to be cut short before they leave the forest.

All firewood must be cut into pieces not exceeding 30 inches in length before being removed from the forest.
Allegheny National Forest. Read it at the source

The forest itself bans firewood brought in from outside its four home counties.

The Allegheny National Forest has a ban on firewood from outside Elk, Forest, McKean, and Warren Counties.
Allegheny National Forest. Read it at the source

Allegheny National Forest firewood permit page

Pennsylvania state forests

Permit on request

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Price
$20 per cord
Household limit
a maximum of 2 cords per permit, up to 5 cords per household per year
Wood you may cut
standing or down dead wood
Cutting season
Apr 1
Where to buy
in person from the state forest district office
The cost is $20.00 per cord. General Guidelines: Permits are issued for a maximum of 2 cords per permit, up to 5 cords per household per year.
Apply for a Pennsylvania State Forest Firewood Cutting Permit, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

A permit is required to cut, and the person named on it has to be there.

The permit can only be used by the person to whom it is issued and that person must be available at all times while cutting.
Pennsylvania state forests. Read it at the source

Permits run four weeks and expire.

Permits are issued for a 4-week period and are void if not used by the expiration date.
Pennsylvania state forests. Read it at the source

The wood you cut is yours to burn, not to sell, and you move it by hand.

Firewood is for personal use only and may not be resold.
Pennsylvania state forests. Read it at the source

No machinery for hauling.

You are not allowed to remove fuel wood using any method other than hand carrying or a wheelbarrow.
Pennsylvania state forests. Read it at the source

Stump height and slash placement are both set.

Stump height of cut trees may not exceed the diameter of the stump or 12 inches, whichever is smaller.
Pennsylvania state forests. Read it at the source

Backpackers gathering downed wood for a campfire do not need a paid permit, with a wildfire season caveat.

Gathering dead and downed wood on state forest land for warming while primitive backpack hiking and camping. Must be outside of spring and fall wildfire seasons or with consent of the managing district office. Be sure fire is completely out. Paid permit not required.
Pennsylvania state forests. Read it at the source

Pennsylvania state forests firewood permit page

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Moving firewood

Can you bring firewood into Pennsylvania?

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

Quarantine

Pennsylvania restricts moving firewood into or within the state.

Pennsylvania's spotted lanternfly Order of Quarantine and Treatment names firewood of any species as a regulated article, so wood moving in or out of a quarantined county is covered. The department keeps an interactive map of which counties are quarantined.

Agency
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Certified or treated wood
The rule does not turn on a certificate
Pests named
spotted lanternfly
SLF Quarantine strictly prohibits the movement of any SLF living stage including egg masses, nymphs, and adults and regulates the movement of articles that may harbor the insect.
Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine and Permitting, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

What the rule says

Firewood of any species is on the department's list of regulated articles.

The following are examples of regulated articles: Landscaping, remodeling or construction waste Logs, stumps, or any tree parts Firewood of any species
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Read it at the source

The quarantine applies to everyone, not only to businesses.

All residents and businesses must comply with the SLF order and regulations.
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Read it at the source

The quarantine boundary moves as new detections are confirmed, and the department publishes a map to check against.

Quarantine zones may be expanded to new areas if SLF detections are confirmed. The interactive SLF quarantine map provides information on whether your location is quarantined for SLF.
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Read it at the source

The insect named in the Pennsylvania rule is spotted lanternfly. 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 Pennsylvania

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

  • Allegheny National ForestOct 1 to Sep 30
  • Pennsylvania state forestsApr 1

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 Pennsylvania says about firewood arriving. The nearest states posting a price by the cord:

  1. New York$10
  2. New Jersey$25

Pennsylvania firewood permit questions

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Firewood permits in other states

Pennsylvania heating oil and propane pricesWhat a gallon costs this winter, and how that compares with a cord.First snow in PennsylvaniaWhen the first measurable snow usually falls, city by city.Pennsylvania 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, Allegheny 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.