A Memorial Day camping excursion checklist: cross firewood off the list?

But cross firewood off the list, because when you build that roaring fire come nightfall, environmental experts want to ensure you’re not carting in kindling from your own backyard in which all kind of creepy crawlies may be lurking.

The long weekend is the time when the state Department of Environmental Conservation began publicizing its “Don’t Move Firewood” campaign to prevent the spread of potentially tree-killing pests

At Moreau Lake State Park in Gansevoort, located on picturesque property filled with hardwood trees, campers were filling burlap bags from a shanty full of dried pine and other logs from inside the park grounds. But most were doing it out of convenience, unaware of the state recommendations that backyard wood be left at home.

“It’s easier to buy it here at a good price than haul it in,” Charles Clothier of Saratoga Springs said Sunday. “This is all for a campfire; you don’t want to cook over pine because it affects the food flavor.”

“It’s not worth the effort to bring it in,” Lafar said. “But you do hear about ticks and wood disease being everywhere. Why risk it?”