Firewood permits granted to county residents, roads open

MINERAL COUNTY - Residents wishing to harvest firewood from the Lolo National Forest can do so in certain locations and in accordance with the Forest Service permitting process.

Permits for personal use are $20 with a minimum of four cords and a maximum of 12 cords for $60 and can be purchased at the Superior Ranger Station.  Twelve cords is the maximum amount of firewood any single individual can harvest per year.

Forest Service Timber Management Assistant Wanda Smith said the agency opens up areas they think are liable to be sources for firewood for the public. Smith said the areas have to meet a certain criteria before they can be accessed.

“We open roads that don’t have wildlife issues or something like that,” Smith said. “We open roads that we think will have firewood opportunities for the public.”

The locations open that were previously behind closed gates include areas on Two Creek Roads #7770 and #18644, Eagle Rock Roads #18597 and #16327, Billy Gulch Road #1192, #7755 and #7756, Ohio Creek Road #7789 and Middle Rock Creek Road #3808.

Smith said while the permitted public was welcome to harvest firewood in these areas, there were still some restrictions. She said the public needed to be aware of what type of tree they were working on.

“What we want people to know is you can’t cut cedar of any kind even if it’s already down,” Smith said. “We prefer people not cut really old, big ponderosa pine. Those are great wildlife trees. Cedar is also a wildlife tree. A lot of species use those trees.”  

Smith also said another important aspect of firewood harvesting people need to be aware of is where they are in the forest. She said some restrictions concerned where the target tree was growing before it died. According to the conditions of the permit, firewood harvesting is prohibited within 150 feet of any running stream, pond, lake, marsh or wet area.

“We don’t want to do any damage,” Smith said. “The taxpayers pay for that if we have to go in and fix something. We don’t want people pulling trees out of the creek bottoms.”

Smith said other restrictions included a prohibition on cutting firewood in recreational areas including campgrounds. She also warned that during fire season, there were additional precautions people needed to take to avoid the possibility of starting a fire with their cutting equipment.

“We do require you to carry an axe, bucket and shovel in their vehicle” Smith said. “That’s a state law. These rules and regulations are all laws and they are all for a reason.”

Other requirements for equipment include having a fire extinguisher on hand for chainsaw operators and the chainsaws themselves must have an approved spark arrestor screen. A copy of the all the regulations regarding firewood harvesting can be obtained at the Superior Ranger Station.

The gates on all the roads mentioned previously will be closed and locked on September 3 due to the start of bow season.