National Forest Sells Permits To Cut Christmas Trees

Print More
MP3

 

(Host) If you’re on a tight budget this holiday, you might want to consider the Green Mountain National Forest for your Christmas tree.  

But as VPR’s Nina Keck reports, getting it home will take some extra effort.

(Keck) Buying a Christmas tree at a local grocery store may cost you around $40. And you’ll probably pay at least that to cut your own at a tree farm.  

But for those of you who are more adventurous, a permit to cut down a tree from the Green Mountain National Forest costs a mere $5.

Campgrounds and picnic areas are off limits and you can’t take trees from next to the road.  Conifers larger than 20 feet tall are off limits as well.  

Colleen Madrid, forest supervisor for the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forest, says maps and all the rules are provided with every permit.

(Madrid) "It’s a great opportunity to take your family out in the woods – the only thing I would bear in mind is weather – and making sure that you have a compass if you’re not used to where you’re going, let people know where you are and pay attention to weather and road conditions before you go."

(Keck) Over the last three years, the Green Mountain National Forest has sold between 150 and 200 permits, which are available at district offices in Rutland, Manchester, Middlebury and Rochester. 

Nationwide, the US forest service sold almost 251,000 permits in 2009, which brought in more than $1.3 million.  

For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck.

Comments are closed.