# "Don't Move Firewood" -- "Stop Forest Pests" (stupid highway signs) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 16, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659 "2012-08-16T12:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/41 "2012-08-18T18:28:07Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > Are you in MA? I just saw a sign on the Pike yesterday that said the same basic thing - something along the lines of “don’t import pests, buy local wood”. > > My wood is so local that it grows, gets chopped down, and then gets kiln dried about 5 miles from my house. So, I thought the sign was a bit odd. Who imports their firewood from other states? Campers never crossed my mind. Yes, I’m in MA and I saw them along 128 and along 3 north. As you said, nobody imports firewood, and in the burbs people buy it and in the country you get your own locally. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/42 "2012-08-19T08:13:51Z")
Why in the world would I see “Don’t Move Firewood” and think it meant that I shouldn’t bring firewood from outside the state? And why would I have any clue what “Stop Forest Pests” means? I mean, surely, since telling people this is so important, this is something they expect people not to know, right? So why be so uninformative? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/43 "2012-08-19T10:50:19Z")
“Wood smuggler” sounds like slang for male undergarments/support. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/44 "2012-08-19T11:15:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Why in the world would I see “Don’t Move Firewood” and think it meant that I shouldn’t bring firewood from outside the state? And why would I have any clue what “Stop Forest Pests” means? > > I mean, surely, since telling people this is so important, this is something they expect people not to know, right? So why be so uninformative? I’ve never seen such a sign, and I’ve never even known/thought about spreading destructive insects via firewood (though, it makes sense), and I immediately understood the purpose of the sign from the title of the OP. Anyway, my favorite (fake) sign is [this one](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2VEaTPMR9yw/SpAk6rGAj3I/AAAAAAAAAYA/AI6I5Trejjk/funny_sign_fail%5B2%5D.jpg). Make sure to read the fine print at the bottom. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/45 "2012-08-19T12:06:42Z")
I know what they’re getting at, but I always chuckle at the road signs that caution to watch for falling rocks (or falling anything for that matter). Yeah, it’s nice to have the heads up, but if something falls ON TOP of you, well, there ain’t shit you can really do about that, (not unless you got some fancy car with a vertiscope or somethin’). I mean, all it really does is make me eye the precipitous cliff warily and think, “Well, everyone’s got to go sometime.” ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/46 "2012-08-19T12:37:36Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > I know what they’re getting at, but I always chuckle at the road signs that caution to watch for falling rocks (or falling anything for that matter). Yeah, it’s nice to have the heads up, but if something falls ON TOP of you, well, there ain’t shit you can really do about that, (not unless you got some fancy car with a vertiscope or somethin’). I mean, all it really does is make me eye the precipitous cliff warily and think, “Well, everyone’s got to go sometime.” I think the sign’s purpose is to have you aware of fallen rocks that may be on the road already. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/47 "2012-08-19T12:39:17Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Anyway, my favorite (fake) sign is [this one](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2VEaTPMR9yw/SpAk6rGAj3I/AAAAAAAAAYA/AI6I5Trejjk/funny_sign_fail%5B2%5D.jpg). Make sure to read the fine print at the bottom. 😉 This reminded me of a sign I saw on a ski slope that simply had ‘CAUTION’ on it. I looked and there was nothing around that I could see that warrented that sign except for the sign itself. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/48 "2012-08-19T12:39:25Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I think the sign’s purpose is to have you aware of fallen rocks that may be on the road already. Well then the sign should say “Watch for **fallen** rocks,” not “falling” rocks, right? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659/49 "2012-08-19T18:33:46Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Why in the world would I see “Don’t Move Firewood” and think it meant that I shouldn’t bring firewood from outside the state? And why would I have any clue what “Stop Forest Pests” means? > > I mean, surely, since telling people this is so important, this is something they expect people not to know, right? So why be so uninformative? In MA at least, or in central MA - around the Worcester area - I think enough people who live there realize what it means. I didn’t because I wasn’t in MA during the Asian Longhorn invasion (which apparently a lot of people think wasn’t real and was a ploy by someone in the city council to get some extra work for a friend with a tree removal company). But, the sign I saw was near the exit of the Pike that leads to CT and then to Southern NY so I assume they were telling us Massholes to not bring our damn dirty wood to other states. I haven’t seen the sign on 84 from CT leading into MA so apparently they aren’t worried about CT pests. 😃 In my case, I live so close to CT that if we have a pest problem, they probably do too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-move-firewood-stop-forest-pests-stupid-highway-signs/631659.md?page=2)