Do you have to have a Sawyer cert. to use a chainsaw in the National Forest? We have Mark Twain National Forest just south, east, and west of the farm in Missouri. I was told I need to take a FS recognized chainsaw class to run a chainsaw on Federal property. Part of the certificate requires red Cross first aid training. Trying to get these courses in the middle of no where is a pain.
In the George Washington National Forest here in Virginia they didn’t even ask if I knew how to use a chainsaw. Took my vehicle info and $20 and that was it.
Technically there are enforcement officers but I've never been checked. And I've been told the enforcement folks aren't around during the camping & hiking off season. The permits come with load tickets that need to have the date notched out and be visible from behind for each half cord. It's pretty simple. As for punishing work, a guy could go that route if he wanted to, but I always find wood next to the road. It pays to go as soon as the roads are clear of snow and beat the competition to the easy stuff.
I used to get permits for our state land here. $ 20.00 for 5 cord. Couldn't take a truck or atv type machine more than 50' off a trail. C.O. stopped by one day when I was on a main road cutting an Oak & checked for the permit. Got to know him pretty well, he asked me to take down some wilt killed Oaks by a small lake. I asked about the down dead only rule, he said I know you well enough that you'll do it right, handed me a signed felling permit handwritten & off I went. Never got checked again. It was a bummer when he retired.
I was just out in Prescott a couple weeks ago at new years, we stayed in a house in the forest and I was wondering about this very thing while I was there. Absolutely beautiful area! I would love to live out there!
If you're in Prescott again give me a heads up. I can give you a true insiders tour of the area. We need more Midwesterners out here so you're always welcome.
Say blacktail how far do you have to travel to get to the permit areas? I am essentially traveling from Tacoma to the Mount Rainier area so it is not really feasible compared to tree service scrounges on my home turf. US Forest Service Rangers are pretty decent folks though and we have met and talked to several during mushroom season and hunting. Once wile at the Randle Forest Service Station, a Ranger came in while I was casually inquiring about permits. He stepped right up and offered to take me to a good wood spot and even offered to mark a few trees for me. I was not prepared to actually cut at the time so I couldn't take him up on it but it demonstrated a proactive and friendly spirit! Wish you lots of firewood this year! Prime stuff and right next to the road.
About 40 minutes. My dad was out with a permit one time and ran into a USFS crew that had just cut down a bunch of hazard trees near a raft launch. They told him it was all up for grabs. Easy load of alder for him.
Super jelly that you can do this. Can't do it near me in OH because of EAB. Park land doesn't allow taking of any firewood
Same FS permit system in the national Forest where I get most of my wood. 10$ a cord allowed 8 cords a year. The forest is pretty large and most of the roads are open to woodcutting. Sometimes law enforcement is around a bit on the main roads, so it really don't pay to buck the permit system. I have been checked for permits 4 times in the last 20 years.
Figured I'd take a drive and see where I could go in the snow before buying a permit. I couldn't get very far off the main road because of all the trees down! Only snow down low was where the plow piled it up. More wind and snow forecasted in the next week so it may be a while before I do any cutting.
Wow it really made a good mess up there with the recent snow then the wind storms that came afterwards and recently.
I pull permits every year here for Medicine Bow National forest. 5 dollars per 1\2 cord with a 20 dollar minimum. Chainsaws have to have an approved spark arrestor. Cannot cut anything within 30 ft of the road. There is a lot of beetle kill next to the road and I asked the National forest people if they would give me permission to remove them and I was told no. Rules are Rules. To bad because they will eventually fall across the road Funny how in some parts of the country they will allow it some places they will not. As far as I am concerned I do them a huge favor by falling dead trees that are nothing but kindling for the next fire. Never been hassled at all by any law enforcement of any kind. They just wave when I am out there cutting and they drive by.
