• Do Not Transport Firewood: GSOB larvae live deep inside cut oak logs and infested trees. Moving firewood is the primary way the beetle jumps to new areas, including recent disjunct infestations found in the Santa Clarita Valley and La Verne. 

• The 5-to-10-Mile Rule: CAL FIRE and local agencies urge people not to move firewood outside county lines or more than 5 to 10 miles from where it was cut. 

• Buy Local, Burn Local: Always purchase your firewood close to where you plan to burn it, and inspect labels or check guidelines via the California Firewood Task Force.

• Tree Susceptibility: The beetle attacks native species like Coast Live Oak, California Black Oak, and Canyon Live Oak, cutting off water and nutrients and drastically increasing wildfire risks in wind-prone canyons and neighborhoods like Porter Ranch. 

Goldspotted oak borer (GSOB) larvae remain in cut oak logs and firewood from GSOB-killed trees or green infested trees and are a continual threat of further infestation. Wood from GSOB infested trees should not be removed from local infested areas.  We emphasize that transporting infested firewood is likely the most significant pathway for introducing GSOB into non-infested areas.

Don't move firewood.org:

https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/pest_pathogen/goldspotted-oak-borer-html/

Goldspotted Oak Borer: The Invasive Beetle Threatening California’s Oak Forests:

https://naisma.org/2026/10/01/goldspotted-oak-borer-the-invasive-beetle-threatening-californias-oak-forests/