The movement of walnut wood into Nebraska from other states is restricted by law. Walnut logs, firewood, green lumber, woodchips, and nursery trees are among the walnut products included in this quarantine. This brochure discusses the purpose of the quarantine and its restrictions, which will help protect the walnut industry and the native and planted walnut trees of our state.
Download a Printable PDFWhich areas are quarantined?
Any state known to be infested with thousand cankers disease is included in the quarantined area. Regulated walnut items originating from these areas may not be brought into or transported through Nebraska.
Quarantined Areas
Regulated walnut items originating from these areas may not be brought into Nebraska:
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- California
- Oregon
- Colorado
- Tennessee
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Washington
Walnut grown in Nebraska is not under the quarantine and may be moved within the state. Other states, however, may prohibit the importation of Nebraska walnut. Contact the Nebraska Department of Agriculture for more information.
Which walnut items are restricted from movement?
The quarantine applies to all species of walnut trees (Juglans species) and includes both living and dead material:
- logs
- boards
- green lumber
- firewood
- branches, stumps, roots
- burls
- bark, mulch, chips
- wood packing material
- nursery stock
- budwood and scionwood
- firewood or fuel wood of any non-coniferous (hardwood) species
Additional restricted items:
- all life stages of the walnut twig beetle
- the fungal pathogen that causes thousand cankers disease
Non-restricted items
The following items are not included in the quarantine:
- All nuts, nut meat, and hulls
- Processed lumber (100% bark-free, kiln dried, with squared edges)
- Finished wood products without bark, including walnut furniture, instruments and gun stocks
Why is there a walnut quarantine?
A new disease known as “thousand cankers disease” has killed many walnut trees in several western states. The purpose of this quarantine is to prevent the spread of this disease into Nebraska’s native and planted black walnut.
The fungus that causes thousand cankers disease is spread by the walnut twig beetle, a tiny black beetle that feeds under the bark. The beetle and the fungus are easily transported in infested walnut wood.
Thousand Cankers Disease information
- Black walnut is highly susceptible. English walnut, butternut, and other walnut species show varying degrees of susceptibility.
- Pecan and hickories are resistant.
- Symptoms include yellowing foliage followed by brown wilted foliage, branch dieback, and tree death.
- Tree death occurs 2-3 years after initial symptoms appear.
- Trees may be infected for many years without visible symptoms.
- No effective chemical controls are known.
Black walnut in Nebraska
Black walnut is native to the eastern part of Nebraska where it is commonly found along river and stream corridors. The tree is also widely planted across the state for nut and timber production, for wildlife habitat, and in certain community and rural landscapes where a tough, drought-tolerant tree is needed.
Nebraska black walnut facts
- 1.5 million trees
- 40 million board feet of merchantable wood value: ($40-80 million)
- 1 million board feet harvested annually (value to state’s economy: $3.5 million)
- 4,000 commercial nut-bearing trees
- 70,000 pounds of nuts produced annually (value to state’s economy: $1.2 million)