The Christmas Tree Problem

 

When I was a kid, it was always a family tradition to go cut down our own Christmas Tree. We had plenty of forest to explore where we lived in New Mexico and occasionally there was a little snow in the mountains. The outing always seemed like a fun, low stress, easy, family activity to do. I decided that this is a tradition that I want to do in my family.

 

Unfortunately, I have a problem. It is not an easy thing to get a Christmas tree permit where I live in Utah. Here, where we have 10 times as much forested area as in New Mexico. Not all forests allow tree cutting, the one closest to us seems to be on a mission to make impossible for the typical person to get a permit. The areas where you are allowed to cut and the types of tree is very selective. Not an easy thing.

 

The first year I decided we should cut our own tree, it was likely the beginning of December. I looked the information up online thinking I could just go to any ranger station and pick up a permit. I found out that permits for the forests closest to us (Uinta-Wasatch-Cache) were sold off at a one time event in November. The next closest ranger office that had them available was in Price. Colin was in school at the time, so it wasn’t difficult for him to take a day off during the week. We drove the 1 hr 45 minutes to Price and paid our $10 for our tree permit. Explorer savvy me found a road into the Manti-La Sal forest so we could pick up our tree on the way home. Mildly annoying to have to go that far for the permit, but all in all a memorable trip.

Last year, I looked up the Christmas Tree permit information in the middle of November. Sure enough, I missed the one day sale of permits. Now Colin was graduated and working and taking a day off to go to Price so we could get a Christmas Tree seemed silly. So we ended up paying $30 to buy a tree from the lot down the street. Sigh.

This year, I started looking at the forest service website in mid October for information on when the permits would be up for sale. Nothing was ever posted. I missed checking for a while because I of my Idaho Trip and Halloween. When I checked again Monday night (Nov. 8), I found the information was up, posted Oct 27th. I scroll down to the info for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache district and gasp! I missed it! The sale was on Nov. 6. I missed it by 2 days. Oh the disappointment and frustration. But then a glimmer of hope as I read “any remaining permits will be sold at the Heber ranger office”. So, of course I planned to go the very next day (today) to Heber to get my permit. Everything was going to be okay, right? I could drive the 45 minutes to Heber, get the permit and then any Saturday we could go for an awesome mountain drive to find a tree. Sigh. This morning I called the ranger station to ask if they had any permits left. “We’re all sold out.” Why is it so hard to get a permit? Who do you have to know? What limbs do you have to cut off?

Maybe things change. I was just looking at the information for this year again. I was surprised to see the Manti-La Sal district is allowing people to write in and they will have a permit sent to them. I better get the check in the mail before that options drops out. I feel like I should put an extra $10 in as a bribe just to make sure I get my permit. Perhaps the real new family tradition, is me getting frustrated over these permits.

If you are interested in how to get a permit, the information is HERE. Good luck. You’re going to need it.

 

 

Photograph note: this picture isn’t actually from a Christmas tree hunt. It is Christmas day and we are climbing Mt. Taylor (11,305 ft.). I just wanted to put a picture of New Mexico forest to show you.