VERMONT —U.S. Forest Service officials in Vermont are encouraging the public to purchase Christmas tree removal permits should they be interested in a five-dollar tree for the holidays. This year, all fourth graders can take advantage of the Every Kid in a Park Initiative and get a free Christmas tree voucher found here: www.everykidinapark.gov.
Fourth graders who present a printed copy of the voucher may redeem it for an EKIP Pass and a Christmas tree removal permit at one of the U.S. Forest offices listed below. This is a one-time opportunity to cut down a Christmas tree on national forest land during the 2016 holiday season.
Christmas trees for personal use may be cut on the Green Mountain National Forest, subject to the following conditions:
•  A “Christmas Tree Removal” permit must be purchased ($5) at one of the Forest Service offices located in Rutland, Middlebury, Manchester Center or Rochester
•  Permit must be attached to the tree before transporting it from the site where it was cut.
•  Permit holder is responsible for knowing that the tree comes from Forest Service land. Maps are available when you purchase your permit.
•  Trees over 20 feet tall are not designated for cutting by the Christmas tree permit.
•  The height of the tree stump left after a tree has been cut should be six inches or less above the soil.
•  Christmas trees shall not be cut in active timber sales, wilderness areas, campgrounds, picnic areas, or within 25 feet of any Forest Service, town or state maintained road.
•  Only one Christmas tree permit will be issued per household per year.
•  Permits are not refundable.
•  Trees obtained under the Christmas tree permit may not be resold.
U.S. Forest Service offices in Vermont:
Rutland: Forest Supervisor’s Office, 231 North Main Street, Rutland, 802-747-6700.
Manchester Ranger Station: 2538 Depot Street, Manchester Center, 802-362-2307.
Middlebury Ranger Station: 1007 Route 7 South, Middlebury, 802-388-4362.
Rochester Ranger Station: 99 Ranger Road, Rochester, 802-767-4261.
The U.S. Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with a mission of sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Forest Service’s Eastern Region includes 20 states in the Midwest and East, stretching from Maine, to Maryland, to Missouri, to Minnesota. There are 17 national forests and one national tallgrass prairie in the Eastern Region. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/R9.
The U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation’s clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year.
The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/.