Christmas tree-cutting permits available now in national forests

For many Coloradans, cutting down their own Christmas tree in our national forests is a cherished family tradition, and often those trips are planned on Thanksgiving weekend while families are together.

“I have fond memories of taking my daughter, who is now 15 years old, to cut a Christmas tree when she was still learning to walk,” said Brian Banks, an official with the Pike-san Isabel National Forests, as quoted on the forests’ website. “Now she will be driving us. It is a wonderful opportunity to spend time outdoors while helping the forest service maintain resilient landscapes.”

It’s all legal, as long as you follow the rules.

Required permits are available through recreation.gov. From the home page, click on permits and refine your search to tree permits, where you will see a list of Christmas treecutting locations on national forests that you can rank-order according to distance from where you live. In some national forests, permits are also available through local vendors or ranger district offices. Permits must be secured before cutting trees.

Fourth-grade kids are eligible for free permits through a program called Every Kid Outdoors, which offers free access to them and their families on federal lands. Go to everykidoutdoors.gov to register your kid and download a voucher that can be redeemed in person or online. When you reserve your cutting permit at recreation. gov, there will be a box to check indicating that you have a child who has registered with Every Kid Outdoors.

Rules and prices for treecutting permits vary from one national forest to another. Each forest lists them online, along with the locations of district offices and vendors where permits can be purchased in person.