California Steals Traveler's Firewood

Crossing the Border

This past week, I was traveling south from Gold Beach, Oregon, into Klamath, California. At the border, I was stopped at the California inspection station for a routine vehicle check.

One of the guards asked if I had firewood. I replied, “Yes.”

The Confiscation

After inspecting my bundle, the guard confiscated about a bundle and a half of my firewood. There were no visible signs of pests, rot, or disease in the wood. When I asked why, the explanation was simple: “There are certain types of wood we do not allow into the state.”

Fair enough — if California wants to enforce its own regulations, that’s their right. But what happened next is what really frustrated me.

No Reimbursement, No Replacement

Even though I had paid for that firewood, I received nothing in return. No refund. No “California-approved” firewood. Nothing.

In any other context, when someone takes something you legally own without compensation, that’s called stealing.

The Traveler’s Dilemma

Here’s the absurdity:

• California won’t allow out-of-state wood.

• If I buy California wood, what happens when I cross into another state with different rules?

• Am I just supposed to keep buying new firewood — and losing what I’ve already purchased — every time I cross a border?

It makes no sense, and travelers are the ones stuck paying the price.

A Simple Solution

If California insists on confiscating out-of-state wood, they should:

1. Reimburse travelers for the value of what’s taken, or

2. Replace it with “California-approved” firewood.

That would be fair. Instead, I was left with less than what I started with and had to spend more money buying new firewood — just so I could sit around a campfire at night.

Absurd.