Statewide lumber ban lifted

Maryland has lifted their state-wide ban of transporting hardwood, originally implemented to prevent a highly-invasive species of beetle from reaching the Eastern Shore.

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetle is known to attach itself to hardwood and is responsible for killing, and damaging, thousands of trees across the state. The ban was put in place in 2007 to stop hardwood coming from Western Maryland, where the EAB beetle had already been spotted,  to getting to the shore.

However, now that the beetle has been spotted on the Eastern Shore the ban has been lifted.

Instead of the ban, Maryland now falls under the federal quarantine which allows for hardwood to be moved between states where the EAB beetle has already been spotted.