Wood Available to Public by Permit in the Angeles National Forest

Release Date: Jun 28, 2023

Contact(s): Dana Dierkes

ARCADIA, Calif.— Beginning today, 70 cords of surplus wood in the Crystal Lake area of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, Angeles National Forest, is available to members of the public who obtain authorized forest product permits (wood permits). Permits cost $25 per cord of pine and $35 per cord of oak / oak and pine mixed. A cord of wood is measured as 4 feet (1.2 meters) wide, 8 feet (2.4 meters) long, and 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall – a total of 128 cubic feet (3.62 cubic meters). The wood has been cut and stacked and consists primarily of California live oak and mixed conifer. Obtaining an authorized forest products permit for a specific quantity of wood is the only permissible means of acquiring wood in the forest. Taking wood without an authorized and signed permit is a violation and subject to enforcement and a fine. While wood is available, permits may be obtained on a first-come first-served basis. For a permit or more information, please contact Resource Officer Edgar Hermosillo at edgar.hermosillo@usda.gov or (626) 250-3477.

After obtaining a permit, you must load the wood into your vehicle at your own risk. In addition, the permit must be presented to forest officials upon request. 

This surplus wood is available as part of a Wildfire Crisis Strategy project accomplished in partnership with the National Forest Foundation, through funding from the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy’s Wildfire Prevention Grant Program. Project work included thinning trees and brush, removing mistletoe, and chipping material adjacent to roads and campgrounds.

The 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy launched in January 2022 by the USDA Forest Service addresses the wildfire crisis in the places where it poses the most immediate threats to communities. The strategy, officially called Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests (in English) (leer en español), combines a historic investment of Congressional funding with years of scientific research and planning into a national effort that dramatically increases the scale and pace of forest health treatments over the next decade. The Southern California Fireshed, which includes the Angeles National Forest, was added to the Wildfire Crisis Strategy in early 2023, as one of 11 additional landscapes. As part of this strategy, the agency is working with states, Tribes, and other partners to address wildfire risks to critical infrastructure, to protect communities, and to make forests healthier or more resilient. 

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