Camping is a great family activity. It's a bonding experience and an adventure that your kids will always remember. I recently relocated to Tennessee from Massachusetts with my wife and two children to be the new state director for The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, and we're really looking forward to camping in the Tennessee woods this summer.
When we do, we're going to do it right. Which means we're going to follow a new park policy aimed at keeping the state's forests safe from disease.
But first we'll look for a nice shady park, and that won't be hard. Tennessee is more than 50 percent forested, with state parks that are legendary for their beauty-like Fall Creek Falls, Roan Mountain and Savage Gulf at South Cumberland State Park. In fact, Tennessee has 56 state parks, and I am looking forward to exploring them with my family.
Then, we'll purchase our firewood. Because starting June 1, our Tennessee state parks have a new policy on firewood for campgrounds. Parks officials are advising visitors not to bring firewood from home. Instead, they are asking us to use certified, heat-treated firewood sold by vendors in the park or near the park. Or we can use downed wood around our campsite.
Why the new policy? It's because of insect pests and diseases that kill trees in the thousands. Invasive insects and diseases from other countries have made their way to the U.S. through global trade. Our native trees aren't adapted to fighting off these foreign invaders, and the results can be devastating both ecologically and economically.
Asian longhorned beetles, for example, feast on more than 30 species of trees. The larvae burrow into trees and disrupt the trees' ability to transport water and nutrients, eventually killing them.
Tennessee state parks' new policy on firewood will help keep devastating pests like Asian longhorned beetles out of our parks. That's because invasive insects can't fly very far, making it difficult for them to move into new areas, except when we humans unwittingly transport them hundreds of miles in firewood. Using local heat-treated firewood ensures that we aren't bringing in pests that will cripple our forests. The heat-treating process kills the pests.
This new state parks firewood policy mirrors the new firewood rule that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park adopted in 2015. National Park Service officials say that park visitors are generally following the rule without complaint. They have found that certified, heat-treated firewood costs about the same as store-bought firewood, and it even lights more easily and more quickly. Expanding the Smokies firewood policy to State Parks is one of the easiest and best things we all can do to keep forests across the state healthy.
So how do you find a nice Tennessee state park to visit or camp in? Go to tnstateparks.com/about/find-a-park for details on all 56.
Looking for some tips for camping with kids? Here are some good ones: coolmompicks.com/blog/2012/09/09/10-tips-for-camping-with-children/
And where can you find heat-treated firewood for sale near your park? Check out firewoodscout.org. This website, which The Nature Conservancy helped develop, has interactive maps and a search engine to help you find certified firewood vendors anywhere in Tennessee.
I hope you and your family will get out there and enjoy the beauty of Tennessee's exceptional state parks this summer. And if you see me in the campground, stop by and check out our toasty campfire. I guarantee you my kids will have plenty of S'mores to share.
Terry Cook is the new state director for The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee. Most recently, he served as the Northeast Regional Director for The Trustees of Reservations, the nation's oldest land trust.