Personal Use Firewood Permits
2024 Personal-Use Firewood Permits will be available for sale in early April
The woodcutting season is currently closed. Permits for the 2024 woodcutting season will be available to purchase in early April. The typical woodcutting seasons runs from April to the end of December. For the upcoming season you will be able purchase in person at the Willows Supervisor’s Office, Stonyford, Upper Lake or Covelo ranger stations, or by mail using the mail-in form. In the event of limited hours, please call the office before your visit. We advise you to bring a completed permit request form to ease the purchase.
To cut firewood for personal use on National Forest System lands you must have a personal use firewood permit.
Personal use firewood permit details:
- $2 per cord for 2023 season, $20 minimum purchase for a permit
- 10 cord minimum
- 12 cord maximum per calendar year. If you plan to purchase 12 cords for the year, it is advised that you buy them in one transaction (12 cords for $24.00).
- Valid for calendar year
- Mail-in order form (expect approximately three weeks turnaround to receive permits and maps)
- Additional permit information, including rules, restrictions, and volume in cords for different truck sizes
Important Reminders:
- When fire restrictions go into effect, permitees will only be allowed to transport wood to a road and cut the wood there. The use of chainsaws will be allowed when cutting wood on roads.
- Keep your permit on the dashboard of your vehicle where it is visible through the windshield.
- Fill out the bottom portion of the permit at the cutting site before you haul each load.
- Travel together when hauling wood in more than one vehicle for the same permit.
- A lost or stolen permit cannot be replaced or the fee refunded.
For further information, contact the Supervisor's Office in Willows at (530) 934-3316.
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Where can I cut firewood?
Take a look at this map to see the important boundaries where firewood cutting is allowed. This map is for informational purposes only and is not a permit. When you purchase a permit, you will receive a detailed map with cutting areas and instructions as part of the permit packet.
Contractor Activity Phone Line:
This is an information only phone line for industrial operations and fire precautions. The 24-hour line is 530-934-1240.
Sudden Oak Death Quarantine
Federal and State quarantines designed to prevent the spread of Sudden Oak Death disease are in effect for Mendocino and Lake Counties. The quarantine prohibits the transportation of firewood, foliage and other potentially infested material outside of the counties in California that are under quarantine.
The policy on the Mendocino National Forest is that firewood or other host material cut in Mendocino and Lake Counties can move into and between any of the quarantine counties, it cannot be moved out of quarantine counties. The Counties under quarantine are: Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma Counties.
No firewood cutting is allowed on some areas of the forest because the road system leads into Glenn County which is outside the quarantine area. These areas are identified on the permit map.
Host material includes the stems, branches, leaves and twigs of any size from hardwood trees and small branches (less than 1 inch in diameter) and needles of Douglas-fir, white fir, and red fir.
With the public's cooperation we can minimize further spread of Sudden Oak Death. The Mendocino National Forest is not infested. Woodcutters coming to the Mendocino National Forest from infested areas in Sudden Oak Death quarantine counties can help prevent the spread of Sudden Oak Death by cleaning saws and other tools prior to use and not transporting any leaves, twigs, branches or mud into the forest.
Complete distribution details and more information on Sudden Oak Death may be found at www.suddenoakdeath.org.