Forest Products Permits
Several forest products are available for harvesting on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
Available Permits
A fuelwood cutting permit and load tickets are required to cut, gather, and transport fuelwood from the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The fuelwood cutting season is from May 1 to November 30. Beginning May 1, the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest will offer free personal-use firewood permits, with a limit of 10 cords per household, per year.
Where to Get a Permit
Fuelwood cutting permits are available from local vendors (listed below) and National Forest offices in Baker City, Halfway, and Joseph. The La Grande District Office is not issuing personal use permits in 2025. They are issuing commercial and other forest product permits. A processing fee of up to $2 per transaction may be charged when obtaining the permits from local businesses. Commercial-use firewood permits will also be available at District Offices only, at the regular fee of $10 per cord with a minimum 2 cord permit. Please call the individual National Forest office to find out when and how permits are available for purchase.
Local Permit Vendors
Burnt River Market, 304 Main Street, Unity, OR 97884, (541) 446-3660
D&B Supply, 3515 Pocahontas Road, Baker City, OR 97814, (541) 523-6442
Gold Post, 150 N. Mill Street, Sumpter, OR 97877, (541) 894-2362
Halfway Mercantile, 117 S. Main Street, Halfway, OR 97834, (541) 742-6171
Hometown Hardware, 206 S. Main Street, Union, OR 97883, (541) 562-5472
Island City Market and Deli, 10101 W 1st Street, Island City, OR 97850, (541) 963-7140
Wallowa County Ace Hardware, 101 W North Street, Enterprise, OR 97828, (541) 426-3622
Wallowa Food City, 302 E 1st Street, Wallowa, OR 97885, (541) 886-3691
Permit Cost
Free personal-use firewood permits are available with a limit of 10 cords per household, per year. Those requiring more than ten cords or want to harvest fuelwood to sell, may purchase a commercial fuelwood permit for $10.00 per cord ($20.00 minimum permit) at National Forest offices. When requesting a permit, please have at least a 4-mile area in mind as your permit area.
Where to Cut
Not all lands on the National Forest are open to fuelwood cutting. Please consult the fuelwood maps in the links below to be sure you are in an area where cutting is permitted. Remember that not all land within the Forest is publicly owned. It is your responsibility to be certain you are not trespassing on private land. The permit is for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest lands only, and not for State, BLM, or private lands.
La Grande East Area Fuelwood Map
La Grande West Area Fuelwood Map
Sparta Decks *There is an active timber sale adjacent to this area where firewood cutting is not allowed.
Wallowa Valley/Eagle Cap Area Fuelwood Map
Areas Excluded from Fuelwood Cutting
- Posted Areas (Designated Old Growth Areas, etc.)
- Wilderness Areas
- Developed campgrounds, picnic areas, trail heads, administrative sites such as guard stations and cabins
- Administrative Sites, timber sale cutting units, or other posted contract areas
- Wild and Scenic North Powder River Corridor
- Wild and Scenic Snake River Corridor
- Wild and Scenic Eagle Creek Corridor
- Wild and Scenic North Fork John Day Corridor
- Wild and Scenic Imnaha River Corridor
- Native Vegetation Areas on the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
- Research Natural Areas
- Starkey Experimental Forest
- Designated Scenic Byways
- Baker City and La Grande Watersheds
- Spring Creek Winter Range Area
- Within 100 feet of either side of the entire length of the Forest Road 39 (Wallowa Mountain Loop Road)
- National Forest lands adjacent to the Sumpter/Granite Highway: Baker County Road 520 from McCully Forks to Granite Summit; and, Grant County Raod 24 from Granite Summit to the town of Granite
- National Forest lands adjacent to Anthony Lakes Highway State Highway 1146 and Forest Road 7300 from the North Powder River Bridge and Anthony Lakes Ski Area
- Additional restricted sites indicated on fuelwood cutting maps
Do not cut trees with signs, tags, or paint.
Stump Diameter, Height, and Species Limitations
Dead or down trees less than 24 inches across the stump may be cut and removed for fuelwood. When cutting down a dead tree, the remaining standing stump should be no more than 12 inches high. No standing or down ponderosa pine are to be cut or removed.
Do not cut any live trees!
How to Tell if the Tree is Dead
Trees without any green needles may still be alive. Western Larch (tamarack) loses its needles in the fall and is still a live tree. A wind blown tree may take several months or years to die. Do not cut the tree if it has any green needles and/or the inner bark, called the cambium, is green, wet, spongy, or light in color. To test a questionable dead tree before it is cut: peel away a small section of the bark and examine the thin cambium layer between the bark and the wood. A dead tree has no green needles and the cambium is dry and is a dark color.
Hauling Restrictions
Logs larger than six inches in diameter on the large end may not be hauled in lengths over eight feet. Smaller material has no length restrictions.
Validating the Load Ticket
After loading the fuelwood, completely remove the month and day on the colored load ticket, corresponding with the date the fuelwood is being removed. On the back of the load, firmly staple, nail, or tack one ticket for each 1/2 cord being transported. All load tickets must be clearly visible.
What is a Cord of Fuelwood?
One cord of fuelwood (stacked) measures four feet tall by four feet deep by eight feet long (4x4x8) which equals 128 cubic feet and weighs approximately 2,662 pounds. The average half-ton pickup can carry one-half of a cord of dry wood without overloading the vehicle. Remember to validate the fuelwood load tickets before leaving the cutting area.
Fire requirements & restrictions
To provide consistency and less confusion, fuelwood permittees will follow the same system as commercial operations and will be affected by Industrial Fire Precaution Levels (IFPL).
Level I – 1 hour fire watch after completing chainsaw activities.
Level II – Partial Hootowl – no internal combustion engine operation between the hours of 1:00 PM and 8:00 PM and a 1 hour fire watch.
Level III – Partial Shutdown – no internal combustion engine operation (No Fuelwood Cutting)
Level IV – no internal combustion engine operation (No Fuelwood Cutting)
During fire season, IFPL levels can be found at: http://bmidc.org/ifpls.shtml
During periods of high fire danger, restrictions that prohibit fuelwood cutting may be enacted. For current IFPL info, contact the nearest National Forest Office or call our hotline: (541) 523-1234.
Fuelwood for Sale
Fuelwood cutters interested in selling fuelwood should contact any ranger district office for information on a commercial fuelwood sale or a Forest Product Sale Permit (also known as a commercial fuelwood permit).
Use of Permit by Another Party
Permits are non-transferrable.
In very limited circumstances, when a person is not physically able to travel into the woods to collect and transport the fuelwood, a Fuelwood Assistance Permit may be issued to the person who will be cutting a transporting the fuelwood. Both the person unable to travel and the person cutting and transporting the wood must appear together at a Forest Service office to explain their request when the permit is issued. Both need to provide valid acceptable identification.
The physically limited person will need to provide documentation to confirm the address where the wood is to be transported is their current residence.
An individual cutting and transporting the wood is limited to one Fuelwood Assistance Permit per year.
This program provides people the opportunity to cut and haul post and pole materials for their own personal use, whether it is for building corrals, fences, or using them to landscape the yard.
Permits may be available at ranger district offices. Please check with the individual district office to find out when permits are available and if they sell on a specific day of the week. When requesting a permit, please have at least a 4-mile area in mind as your permit area. When individual districts have designated areas for personal-use post and pole removal, maps of the post and pole areas are provided with the permit.
The price per linear foot is $.03. The minimum permit purchase price is $20.01.
The maximum amount allowed to be cut per address per year is 3000 linear feet.
Example to estimate cost
100 ten-foot poles equal 1,000 linear feet.
1,000 linear feet at $.03 per linear foot would cost $30.00
Size and diameter limitations
Live or dead lodgepole pine may be removed with the permit. Posts may be up to eight inches in diameter at the widest end but must be less than eight feet long. Maximum cut diameter limit of poles is six inches at the widest end. The height of the remaining stump must not exceed eight inches. Logs larger than six inches in diameter on the large end may not be hauled in lengths over eight feet. Smaller material has no length restrictions.
Cutting season
The post and pole cutting season begins on May 1 and closes November 30.
*Post and Pole permits are only valid and good for 14-days from the date of purchase*
Equipment and access
All vehicles are restricted to established roads. Tractors, ATV, jammers, etc., are not allowed. Pickup bumper winches may be used as long as the leading end is suspended or hand carried to the road. Do not cut trees that have been marked with paint or tags.
Information needed on the permit
To purchase a permit the following information will be requested: name, mailing address, driver's license number, vehicle information (year, make, model, color, and license plate number of vehicle being used to haul poles), in addition to linear foot amount and area where you plan to harvest.
Personal Use Mushroom Permits
A permit is not required to harvest, possess, or transport less than one gallon of mushrooms in Oregon or less than five gallons in Washington. Mushrooms harvested free of charge on national forests are not to be sold, bartered, or given away.
Commercial permits
A Commercial Mushroom Permit is required if:
- You are 18 years or older and harvest mushrooms to sell, or;
- You harvest, possess, or transport more than one gallon of any kind of mushroom in Oregon or more than five gallons of any kind of mushroom in Washington.
A government-issued identification (ID) must be in the Permittee's possession while harvesting and transporting forest products
Commercial permit rates
Consecutive-Day: (except on the Malheur NF) $2.00 per day, minimum 10 days: $20.00 (Example: 14-day permit =$28.00)
Annual Permit (Valid May 1st through December 31st): $100.00
Industrial camping permits (No Industrial Camping Permits are being offered on the WWNF at this time)
An industrial camping permit is required if you set up camp on National Forest lands while commercially picking mushrooms. Commercial pickers are prohibited from camping in developed campgrounds. Industrial camping permits can only be obtained at the District Office where you will be camping. Each District may have different industrial camping requirements, please check with the local district offices for more information.
The minimum charge for all forest product permits is $20. The cost per day to pick mushrooms is $2 per day and you will be required to buy the minimum, 10 consecutivedays permit (except on the Malheur NF) for $20. An annual permit sells for $100.00.
Points to remember:
♦ The Blue Mountains National Forests do not require free-use permits for individuals harvesting "incidental amounts" of mushrooms. To be consistent with State laws, "incidental amounts" are defined as "possessing or transporting one gallon or less in Oregon and five gallons or less in Washington."
♦ Commercial mushroom picking is prohibited in wilderness areas. Possessing more than one gallon of mushrooms within Oregon wilderness areas or five gallons within Washington wilderness areas is considered commercial and therefore prohibited.
♦ If you are 18 years or older and plan to harvest mushrooms to sell, you are required to purchase a commercial mushroom permit.
♦ A government-issued identification (ID) must be in the Permittee's possession while harvesting and transporting forest products. Copies are not allowed.
♦ If you plan to commercially pick mushrooms and camp on the National Forest, you must obtain an Industrial Camping Permit at the local Ranger District Office. Some Districts will require you to stay in a designated Industrial Camp.
♦ A Recreation Pass may be required at participating trailheads on the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Not all trailheads require a pass and those that do will be signed accordingly. The Malheur Forest does not have any participating Recreation Pass sites.
♦ The Blue Mountains Forests are working together to provide a program to meet everyone's needs.
How to acquire permits
Permits can be acquired by visiting one of our offices:
Whitman Ranger District (541-523-6391), 1550 Dewey Ave, Baker City, OR 97814. Open M-F from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for mushroom permit sales.
La Grande Ranger District (541-962-8500), 3502 Highway 30, La Grande, OR 97850. Open M-W from 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. for mushroom permit sales.
Wallowa Mountains Office (541-426-5546), 201 East Second Street, Joseph, OR 97846.
Pine Field Office (541-742-7511), 38470 Pine Town Lane, Halfway, OR 97834. Mushroom permits will not be available at this location until after May 3 and then by appointment only.**
** These locations require appointments to purchase or pick up your permits.
Know your mushrooms
Each year interest grows in harvesting wild mushrooms from National Forests. Proper identification and determination of whether a mushroom is edible is the responsibility of the picker. Many forest mushroom varieties are poisonous. There are many guide books available to assist with identification. Some forests offer field guides for sale. Your local library, county extension office, and local Mycological Society are good sources of information.
Our word to the wise is: WHEN IN DOUBT... LEAVE IT IN THE WOODS!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who needs a permit to pick mushrooms?
A: A Commercial Mushroom Permit is required if you are 18 years or older and harvest mushrooms to sell, or if you plan to harvest, possess, or transport more than one gallon in Oregon or more than five gallons in Washington.
Where can I pick mushrooms?
A: Permits are good on the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. You may pick commercially anywhere on these public lands EXCEPT: (1) in wilderness areas, and (2) other areas as designated by the Forest Service. Wilderness area boundaries may or may not be signed. Check your Forest map for Wilderness boundary information. Mushroom picking is not permitted in any botanical area, research area or other areas designated by the Forest Service. Offices issuing permits will provide a list of closed areas, if applicable. And remember, the National Forests are public lands, all mushroomers have a right to pick in "your" area.
I bought a permit then decided not to buy or pick. Can I get my money back?
A: No. Permit fees are not refundable.
Where can I camp if I commercially pick mushrooms?
A: Industrial camping permits are available at local ranger district offices for people who pick mushrooms commercially. You must obtain a new industrial camping permit each time you change your camp location. Several Ranger Districts will have designated Industrial Camping Areas for commercial mushroom pickers.
Are all roads open to drive on?
A: No. Open roads vary from area to area. Visitors are asked not to drive on water-saturated, muddy roads in spring and early summer. Vehicle weight and maneuvering cause road damage which makes road maintenance difficult throughout the summer. Check with the local ranger district office for updates on road conditions, motorized vehicle use maps (MVUMs) and closures.
What happens if I don't follow the terms of my permit?
A: The Forest Service reserves the right to revoke the permit for non-compliance with permit conditions. In addition, you may be issued a citation, which may require you to appear in court, and/or pay a fine if found guilty.
What do I do with my trash?
A: Pick it up and pack it out. PLEASE!
Christmas Tree Permits can be purchased seasonally at Recreation.gov, at your local Forest Service Office, and at local retailers (for a list see below). Additionally, the Every Kid Outdoors program grants free access to fourth graders and family members to over 2,000 federal lands and waters for exploration and a free Christmas Tree permit. For more information on how to obtain your voucher visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/learn/kids/everykid (free EKO permits are also available at your local Forest Service office - call for more details!)
For a printable Christmas tree brochure please click here.
The Christmas tree program is designed for families, business, and institutions wishing to cut their own Christmas Tree. Commercial cutting permits are not available. The permits do not authorize cutting on private, state, or other federally-managed lands.
Christmas Tree cutting rules to follow
- Cut your tree at least 50 feet away from the road and clean up any trimmings or limbs.
- Leave stumps no higher than 10 inches. It is illegal to “top” a tree.
- Cut off any green limbs left on the stump (they can be used for decorating!).
- The maximum height of trees to be cut is 15 feet tall, with no larger than a 6-inch stump diameter.
- Do not cut in active timber sales or areas that have been planted with new trees.
- Do not cut on private land, in wilderness areas, designated campgrounds, or existing plantations.
- Do not cut trees in the following areas: Baker City Watershed, Anthony Lakes Campground or Ski Area, Starkey Experimental Forest, La Grande Watershed, Hurricane Creek and Lostine drainages.
- Do not cut trees within ¼ mile of wild and scenic river corridors.
- Christmas tree cutting within sight distance of State Highways is prohibited
Caring for the tree
Caring for your tree properly will prolong the life of the tree. Prior to moving the tree indoors, cut the base at least 1 inch above the original cut. Keep the base of the tree in water while inside your home or office.
Be prepared for winter weather
Forest roads may be muddy, icy, or covered with fresh snow. This can create hazardous driving conditions. For a safe and fun Christmas Tree cutting experience, check weather and road conditions ahead of time.
You can also purchase Christmas Tree Permits from these local outlets:
Baker City, OR:
D&B Supply, (541) 523-6442
Whitman Ranger District, (541) 523-6391
Bi-Mart, (541) 523-0680
York’s Covered Wagon, (541) 523-2577
Clarkston, WA:
Hells Canyon NRA, (509) 758-0616
Enterprise, OR:
Dollar Stretcher, (541) 426-5833
Halfway, OR:
Halfway Market, (541) 742-6174
Island City, OR:
Island City Market & Deli, (541) 963-7140
Joseph, OR:
Wallowa Mts. Office*, (541) 426-5546
Sports Corral, (541) 432-4363
La Grande, OR:
D&B Supply, (541) 963-8466
La Grande Ranger District, (541) 963-7186
Miller’s Home Center, (541) 963-3113
Bi-Mart, (541) 963-2166
Richland, OR:
Hitchin’ Post Grocery, (541) 893-6175
Sumpter, OR:
The Gold Post, (541) 894-2362
Unity, OR:
Burnt River Market, (541) 446-3660
Union, OR:
Hometown Hardware, (541) 562-5472
Wallowa, OR:
Wallowa Food City, (541) 886-3691
*Vending machine for after-hours purchases at Wallowa Mountains District Office.
Contact your nearest National Forest office for more information:
Whitman RD-Baker Office, Baker City, OR, (541) 523-6391
La Grande District, La Grande, OR, (541) 963-7186
Wallowa Mountains Office, Joseph, OR, (541) 426-5546, vending machine for after-hours purchases
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Clarkston, WA, (509) 758-0616
Inquire at your local district office about transplants and landscaping mineral permits. These items are free of charge at incidental use amounts.