National forest Christmas tree cutting

[SSSdave]

With fresh snow opening up Tahoe region resorts, I just checked on this year's El Dorado national Forest Christmas tree cutting program. It is just $10 again for a tag for cutting a single tree and there is a list of rules. Tahoe and Toiyabe National Forests have had similar programs as do others nation wide so web search for their info. Love the smell of fir trees.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/passes-permits/forestproducts/?cid=STELPRDB5253055

I am planning on driving up to Kirkwood for my first day of skiing after the storm next Tuesday and on the drive home will cut a tree. The above link has a map pdf showing where cutting is allowed and recommended. One convenient location is the old Iron Mountain ski area parking lot at 7.4k that is now a cross country skiing and snowmobile access site. Just west of the parking lot are many fir trees where snow tends to be deep, however at this time snow will be shallow. Will find a nice little red fir of less than 4 foot height, take its picture, then saw it that I can easily lay down in the back of my Forester atop a blue plastic tarp and skis.

 

[scott43]

The best part about having a place in Muskoka...trees as far as you can see!!! Pick'n'cut...

 

[Sibhusky]

I walk out the front door.

 

[pchewn]

Oregon grows 5.2 million Christmas trees a year on tree farms. That is private land, cultivated trees. In the national forests there are several billion trees available.

 

[SSSdave]

Oregon exports 92% of their C trees and half end up down here in California. A 4 foot tall fir tree like I will cut will run around $50 at an urban lot, so by cutting my own, am offsetting most of the $50 round trip gas cost for my first day of skiing this season. Plus as noted I will have a wider choice, certain to find a most aesthetic tree.

 

[cantunamunch]

In the national forests there are several billion trees available.

Cutting through Dec. 31 is a bonus.

 

[SSSdave]

I was not able to obtain a Christmas tree cutting permit from any of the national forests at or near the Tahoe Basin. The reason is because in our region there are very few permits offered. Thus in November when the program is announced, permits sell out quickly within a few days at most. Being unfamiliar with this situation, I poked about the web some for clues as to why. There are certainly vast numbers of potential small trees to cut near roads on national forest lands that people might cut so the hidden agenda is unclear. Note some California national forests don't have any tree cutting programs.

If one has traveled Sierra Nevada highways these last few years, one will find large numbers of small trees and brush cut and cleared from road sides for a fair distance for the purpose of reducing potential wildfires starting from cigarette smoker butt tossing. Just in those areas within say 100 yards of roadsides are vast numbers of small trees, so such programs would actually be performing a service of thinning roadside forests. However I read excuses that even if they issued tens of thousands of permits versus just several hundred to few thousand, such would not put much a dent in the thinning issue. Other complaints from NF authorities were they don't have the manpower to administer such programs and some people don't follow policies. For instance leaving ugly stumps instead of cutting off trees near ground level or cutting trees on private property or not in designated locations. Of course all that reads as such lame excuses as to be unbelievable as though they prefer to not discuss real reasons for few permits.

Further north away from urban areas national forests like Plumas NF don't cap their permit sales that says something about those near urban areas having some agenda. One can imagine local Christmas tree sellers not wanting competition. Note 75% of trees for California come from Oregon so that is big business one can imagine backdoor influencing policy. In my urban area trees go for around $10 a foot versus just $10 for a permit to cut. One can imagine administrators setting up small permit numbers just enough to satisfy rural mountain community needs as many mountain residents would otherwise ignore unrealistic over-reaching policy and cut trees each year regardless. In a few national forests near truly large urban populations there would be other issues.

 

[Posaune]

It's amazing how much people will pay for a Christmas tree. I have a U-cut farm and we charge up to $10 a FOOT for some of our trees and our customers don't even bat an eye. We closed for the season on Sunday because we have to limit cutting so we'll have some next year, but until then people came in droves to pay for $80+ trees. It always blows my mind, because I could get a day at W/B for about that, and it would be a lot more memorable.

 

[pchewn]

We cut one tree with a NFS permit ($5) near Anthony Lakes Ski Area (NE Oregon). That was for my daughter who lives in La Grande.

Then for our home we cut on a private tree farm ($20 for an 8' Douglas Fir, which was trimmed to shape). That tree was a 10 minute drive from home. There are tons of Christmas tree farms around here. It's great to watch the big commercial tree farms cutting hundreds of trees and lifting them by helicopter to the trucks for shipment to other states.

 

[Andy Mink]

We used to do the USFS tree cut when our kids were little. We'd have a big party and make a day of it with a bunch of other families. Left over Thanksgiving food, fire, sledding if there was snow. It was fun. Now the kids are big and busy, along with everyone else's and we've reverted to one of the local Boy Scout lots. We get a nice red fir for $10/ft. At least some of the money is going to the Scouts. I'll probably be looking for a faux tree after the holidays when they go on sale.