Online Fuelwood Permits Make Stocking up Winter Firewood Easy, Affordable

Photo credit Cathy Barta, BLM North Central Montana District It’s not too early to stock up the wood pile in preparation for the coming winter cold, and six Bureau of Land Management field offices in Montana are making it simple and inexpensive for the public to get wood-cutting permits. Personal-use fuelwood permits issued by the Butte, Dillon, Lewistown, Malta, Miles City and Missoula field offices cost only $5 per cord and can be applied for online. Locations where fuelwood can be harvested vary by field office. Maps, stipulations, and measuring guidelines are available on each office’s permit application webpage. To purchase a fuelwood permit online: Go to the BLM’s Online Forest Product Permits webpage for Montana at https://forestproducts.blm.gov/customer/permitselect/MT Choose the BLM field office that corresponds to the area where you plan to use your permit. Select Fuelwood Permit (some offices also seasonally offer Christmas tree permits). Complete and submit the application. Proceed automatically to Pay.Gov, a secure government website, to make your payment by credit card or checking account and agree to the terms and conditions. Your payment will be processed within minutes. Print your permit, stipulations, instructions, maps, and tags. Keep them handy when harvesting fuelwood. Permits are valid for 90 days in designated harvest areas on BLM-administered lands. Be sure to note harvest areas on the map for the office you selected and any special use areas where firewood harvesting is prohibited. BLM-issued fuelwood permits are not valid on U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service lands. No resale or other commercial use of the wood is allowed. As a reminder, recreational campers may collect a small amount of “dead and down” wood for immediate use at a campsite without a permit. To minimize the risk of starting wildfires, permittees must comply with current county fire restrictions. Woodcutters must have a shovel and fire extinguisher ready for immediate use, and chainsaws must be equipped with a functioning spark arrestor. Please, read and follow all instructions and stipulations while harvesting personal-use fuelwood. If you have questions, please contact the BLM field office that manages the area where you plan to harvest fuelwood at www.blm.gov . Photo credit Cathy Barta, BLM North Central Montana District