Virginia, 2026 season, 2 offices

Virginia Firewood Permits 2026: Prices, Seasons and Rules

Virginia sells personal use firewood permits on the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests and on state forests through the Department of Forestry, and state parks ask visitors not to bring their own firewood because the state agriculture department has quarantines on moving wood out of pest affected counties.

2

Offices selling permits

1 federal, 1 state

On the office page

Price per cord

set district by district

Quarantine

Bringing wood in

Virginia Dept of Conservation and Recreation

7

Pests named

emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly

Office by office

Where to buy a firewood permit in Virginia

2 offices in Virginia sell a personal use firewood permit, 1 of them federal and 1 run by the state. Each office posts its own price on its permit page.

The Virginia Department of Forestry issues firewood permits on state forests, arranged through each state forest headquarters rather than bought online.

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests

Permit on request

USDA Forest Service

Price: Minimum permit is $20/4 cords, and each additional cord is $5 each.
Minimum: Minimum permit is $20/4 cords
Wood you may cut: wood on the ground; no trees may be cut
Cutting season: Sold on request
Where to buy: Forest Service e-permits page, by mail to the nearest district office, in person at a ranger district office

You can purchase firewood permits online on the Forest Service e-permits page. Minimum permit is $20.00/4 cords, and each additional cord is $5 each. Permits are good for one year from date of issue.

Forest Products Permits, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, USDA Forest Service, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

A permit lasts a year from the day it is issued.

Permits are good for one year from date of issue.

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Read it at the source

Campers do not need a permit to pick up wood off the ground for a campfire, but no tree may be cut.

Campers on national forest lands may collect firewood without a permit while camping. You can't cut any trees, but you can gather wood on the ground for your campfire.

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Read it at the source

Wilderness, developed recreation areas, campgrounds, the Appalachian Trail corridor and active timber sale units are closed to gathering.

You CANNOT harvest within: Designated Wilderness Areas Developed Recreation Areas Campgrounds The Appalachian Trail Corridor (corridor is 100' either side of trails) Active Timber Sale Units; or other areas signed or shown as being closed to firewood gathering

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Read it at the source

Stay back from water when cutting.

150 feet of any lake, pond, marshy or wet area, stream, or river

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Read it at the source

No portable mills or heavy loading equipment, and nothing may be dragged across a stream.

The use of portable sawmill equipment, large capacity hydraulic boom loaders and large capacity truck/trailer combinations are prohibited. Trees or logs must NOT be felled or skidded across live streams, lake, or reservoirs.

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Read it at the source

The forest does not sell Christmas tree permits.

You cannot cut Christmas trees on the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. We do not issue permits for cutting Christmas trees.

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Read it at the source

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests firewood permit page

Virginia State Forests

Permit on request

Virginia Department of Forestry

Price: On the office page
Wood you may cut: a forester designated tree or trees, or fallen trees on the ground
Cutting season: Sold on request
Where to buy: contact the state forest headquarters

Firewood permits are issued by DOF; firewood is generally sold by estimated cord, with DOF forester-designated tree or trees, or fallen trees on the ground in a given area. Contact the state forest headquarters about timber sales or Firewood Permits.

Before You Visit, Virginia State Forests, Virginia Department of Forestry, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

Rules on this permit

Nothing may be cut on a state forest without a firewood permit or a purchased timber sale.

No cutting of timber without a Firewood Permit or having purchased an advertised timber sale.

Virginia State Forests. Read it at the source

The permit is priced by estimated cord and the trees are picked out by a department forester.

Firewood permits are issued by DOF; firewood is generally sold by estimated cord, with DOF forester-designated tree or trees, or fallen trees on the ground in a given area.

Virginia State Forests. Read it at the source

Moving firewood

Can you bring firewood into Virginia?

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

Quarantine

Virginia restricts moving firewood into or within the state.

State quarantines issued by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services restrict moving firewood out of pest affected counties, and Virginia State Parks asks visitors to buy wood at or near the park rather than carry their own in. The state park regulation lets the director require that any firewood brought to a park be proven to come from a certified source.

Agency: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Certified or treated wood: The rule does not turn on a certificate
Pests named: emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly, spongy moth, imported fire ant, thousand cankers disease, pine shoot beetle, laurel wilt

Quarantines have been issued by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to restrict the movement of firewood from pest-affected counties.

Firewood quarantine, Virginia State Parks, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, read September 22, 2026. Read it at the source

What the rule says

Parks ask you to buy wood locally and burn all of it before you leave.

That's why Virginia State Parks recommends that you do not bring your own firewood to the parks. Instead, buy it at or near the park and be sure to burn all the wood before leaving.

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Read it at the source

The agriculture department has issued quarantines that restrict moving firewood out of affected counties, and federal quarantines also cover the state.

Quarantines have been issued by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to restrict the movement of firewood from pest-affected counties.

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Read it at the source

Under the state park regulation, once the director makes a written determination, wood carried into a park has to be proven certified. Virginia Administrative Code 4VAC5-30-410.

Firewood to be used by any person within a park must be purchased from the park, must be proven to be from a certified source in accordance with subdivision 3 of this subsection if transported to the park, or may be collected from within the confines of the park in accordance with park policy.

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Read it at the source

The insects and diseases named in the Virginia rule are emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly, spongy moth, imported fire ant, thousand cankers disease, pine shoot beetle and laurel wilt. 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

Virginia firewood permit questions

Do you need a permit to cut firewood in Virginia?

How much is a firewood permit in Virginia?

Can you bring firewood into Virginia?

State quarantines issued by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services restrict moving firewood out of pest affected counties, and Virginia State Parks asks visitors to buy wood at or near the park rather than carry their own in. The state park regulation lets the director require that any firewood brought to a park be proven to come from a certified source. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: "Quarantines have been issued by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to restrict the movement of firewood from pest-affected counties."

What wood can you cut on a Virginia firewood permit?

Why does Virginia restrict moving firewood?

emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly, spongy moth, imported fire ant, thousand cankers disease, pine shoot beetle and laurel wilt. The agriculture department has issued quarantines that restrict moving firewood out of affected counties, and federal quarantines also cover the state. "Quarantines have been issued by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to restrict the movement of firewood from pest-affected counties."

Firewood permits in other states

Virginia heating oil and propane pricesWhat a gallon costs this winter, and how that compares with a cord.First snow in VirginiaWhen the first measurable snow usually falls, city by city.Virginia 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 Forest Products Permits, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, 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.