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South Dakota, 2026 season, 3 offices

South Dakota Firewood Permits 2026: Prices, Seasons and Rules

South Dakota sells personal use firewood permits on the Black Hills National Forest and on the national grasslands, and the state runs an emerald ash borer quarantine that also sets what firewood you may carry into a state park.

3
Offices selling permits
national forest and BLM
$5
Price per cord
2 priced by the cord
Quarantine
Bringing wood in
South Dakota Dept of Agriculture and Natural Resources
1
Pest named
emerald ash borer
Office by office

Where to buy a firewood permit in South Dakota

3 offices in South Dakota sell a personal use firewood permit. A cord runs $5 depending on which office you buy from.

South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks also bars salvaged construction wood as campground firewood: "Wood containing nails, screws, or hardware - including rough and pallet lumber - cannot be brought into any state park area to be used as firewood."

Black Hills National Forest

Permit on request

USDA Forest Service

Price
$5 per cord, with a minimum purchase of 4 cords/16 tickets (minimum $20)
Minimum
4 cords/16 tickets (minimum $20)
Household limit
up to $100 (20 cords)
Wood you may cut
downed trees Forest wide, and standing dead trees only in designated dispersed camping areas and near open roads
Cutting season
Dec 31
Where to buy
in person at your local Forest Service office
Personal-use firewood permits cost $5 per cord, with a minimum purchase of 4 cords/16 tickets (minimum $20).
Firewood Permit, Black Hills National Forest, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

Every quarter cord you haul needs a load ticket marked and attached to the wood.

A load ticket is required to be marked correctly and attached to the wood for every ¼ cord of wood being transported.
Black Hills National Forest. Read it at the source

The person named on the permit has to be there for the cutting and the hauling.

The person, whose name is listed on the permit, has to be present while cutting and hauling the firewood.
Black Hills National Forest. Read it at the source

Downed trees are open Forest wide apart from the listed exceptions.

Downed trees may be cut Forest-wide with a few exceptions.
Black Hills National Forest. Read it at the source

Standing dead trees are far more limited than downed wood.

Cutting of standing dead trees is permitted in areas designated as dispersed camping areas and within *100 feet of all open Forest Service roads, as shown on the MVUM.
Black Hills National Forest. Read it at the source

Signed closures, timber sale areas, campgrounds and recreation areas are off limits.

Downed trees may not be cut in any area signed closed to firewood, administrative sites, in timber sales areas (marked with signs or painted trees), on private property, in campgrounds or recreation areas.
Black Hills National Forest. Read it at the source

Pieces you take out have to be short.

Firewood removed under this permit must be less than 8 feet in length.
Black Hills National Forest. Read it at the source

Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands, including Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Fort Pierre National Grassland

Permit on request

USDA Forest Service

Price
$5 per cord
Minimum
The minimum purchase price of a permit is $20
Cutting season
Sold on request
Where to buy
online through the Forest Service E-Permits system, in person at the district office
Personal firewood permits are measured by cord of wood (4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet = 128 square feet) and sold at $5 per cord.
Permits, Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

Burning dead and down wood where you camp needs no permit; a permit is what lets you leave with it.

These don't apply to firewood gathered while camping, to be used on the forest during your stay- for that you can harvest anything that's dead and down and as long as you don't leave the forest with it no permit is needed.
Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands, including Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Fort Pierre National Grassland. Read it at the source

Personal firewood permits can now be bought and printed online.

For personal firewood permits only, you may purchase and print a permit online through the new E-Permits system.
Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands, including Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Fort Pierre National Grassland. Read it at the source

Carry the permit, and it has to name the vehicle you are using.

You must have your permit on your person when harvesting and it must have a description and license plate number for the vehicle you'll be using.
Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands, including Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Fort Pierre National Grassland. Read it at the source

The district office is where you find out which areas are open and which are closed.

To get a wood permit contact the District you want to harvest from to inquire about maps of acceptable harvesting areas, any areas that are off-limits to harvesting, or any special rules or regulations, and arrange a time to come in to file the permit and pay the fee.
Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands, including Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Fort Pierre National Grassland. Read it at the source

Grand River National Grassland, Dakota Prairie Grasslands

Permit on request

USDA Forest Service

Price
On the office page
Wood you may cut
dead and downed trees
Cutting season
Sold on request
Where to buy
in person at the Grand River Ranger District office
A forest products free use permit is required in order to take firewood off USFS lands for personal use.
Firewood Use and Possession Restrictions, Order Number 01-18-00-24-02, Dakota Prairie Grasslands, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

Burning what you gather on site needs nothing.

Use of firewood collected and burned onsite does not require a permit.
Grand River National Grassland, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Read it at the source

Firewood from any other state is barred from this grassland.

Any firewood of any species originating from any state other than South Dakota is prohibited on National Forest System lands within the boundaries of the Grand River National Grassland.
Grand River National Grassland, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Read it at the source

Wood out of a county under a pest quarantine is barred too.

Any firewood from a state-quarantined county for the emerald ash borer or other pests such as pine beetle.
Grand River National Grassland, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Read it at the source

Bought wood has to be certified heat treated and come with its receipt.

Any firewood that is offered for sale to the public by a vendor is prohibited for use on National Forest System lands unless it is certified heat-treated firewood by a State Department of Agriculture, or USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and accompanied by a receipt of purchase that includes name of vendor, date, and quantity of wood purchased.
Grand River National Grassland, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Read it at the source

The order carrying these restrictions runs to Oct 1, 2026 unless it is rescinded.

This Order shall be in effect from October 1, 2024, through October 1, 2026, unless rescinded.
Grand River National Grassland, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Read it at the source
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Moving firewood

Can you bring firewood into South Dakota?

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

Quarantine

South Dakota restricts moving firewood into or within the state.

South Dakota runs an internal emerald ash borer quarantine over seven eastern counties and an embargo on untreated firewood arriving from infested areas outside the state. State parks go further and want a certification label on any wood that has been inside the quarantine area.

Agency
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Certified or treated wood
Heat treated and certified wood may come in
Pests named
emerald ash borer
The State of South Dakota has implemented an Exterior Quarantine/Embargo, effective June 1, 2021, that prohibits the entry of Regulated Articles described below that originate from areas outside South Dakota known to have EAB infestations, unless properly treated in accordance with the rules to prevent EAB movement.
Quarantine, Emerald Ash Borer in South Dakota, South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

What the rule says

Seven eastern counties make up the internal quarantine.

The State of South Dakota maintains an Internal Quarantine that includes all of Brookings, Codington, Grant, Minnehaha, Lincoln, Turner, and Union Counties.
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Read it at the source

Hardwood firewood counts as a regulated article, and taking it out of the quarantine area needs a permit and an inspection.

Regulated articles may only be moved outside the Internal Quarantine boundaries under a permit or compliance agreement issued by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). An inspection is required to obtain a permit.
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Read it at the source

Untreated firewood from infested areas east of the state is embargoed at the state line.

DANR has established an external embargo on regulated articles, including untreated firewood entering South Dakota from all states east of the eastern border of South Dakota and all counties where EAB is known to exist in other states.
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Read it at the source

State parks want a treatment label on wood that has been inside the quarantine area.

Do not bring wood that has been within the quarantine area into any South Dakota state park unless it has a label affixed certifying it as emerald ash borer treated and safe to move.
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Read it at the source

Wood bought at a park inside the quarantine area stays at that park.

If you purchase firewood from a state park within the quarantine area, do not remove it from the park.
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Read it at the source

The insect named in the South Dakota rule is 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 South Dakota

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:

  • Black Hills National ForestDec 31

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

  1. Minnesota$5
  2. Montana$5 to $10
  3. Nebraska$5
  4. Wyoming$5 to $7

South Dakota firewood permit questions

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Firewood permits in other states

South Dakota heating oil and propane pricesWhat a gallon costs this winter, and how that compares with a cord.First snow in South DakotaWhen the first measurable snow usually falls, city by city.South Dakota 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, Black Hills 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.