Website makes fuelwood permits easier
With the fuelwood season under way, the Department of Natural Resources has launched an updated website, www.michigan.gov/fuelwood, which includes new county and township maps, easier navigation and a mail-order option to make the purchase of firewood permits more convenient.
The DNR has issued fuelwood permits for decades and sells between 2,500 and 3,500 each year.
Permits, which cost $20 and are for use on designated state forest land in the northern two-thirds of the state, allow for collection of up to five standard cord of wood per household. Fuelwood collected with the permit can be used for personal use only and cannot be resold or traded. The fuelwood season started April 1 and runs through Dec. 31, 2013. Permits are good for 90 days.
“Fuelwood permits give people the opportunity to heat their homes at a lower cost, provided they are willing to invest sweat-equity in collecting the wood each year,” said Bill O’Neill, chief of the DNR’s Forest Resources Division. “We listened to the concerns from the public and have updated our system to make the purchase and use of these permits more convenient.”
In addition to the changes to the website, the fuelwood permits system now includes a collection log. In the past, law enforcement officials and forest managers had no easy way to track how much wood was removed under individual permits. This new permit was modeled after the federal system, which has been used successfully for years.
“The collection log acts similar to a ‘kill tag’ and tracks the amount of wood harvested under the permit,” said DNR conservation officer Lt. Creig Grey. “It also requires that fuelwood can only be collected within 200 feet of an existing roadway. These are great enforcement tools that also help land managers track forest outputs and protect wildlife habitat.”
O’Neill added that improvements will continue to be made to the new system as the DNR receives feedback from its field staff and the public.
For further information on how to purchase a personal-use fuelwood permit, contact your local DNR office or visit www.michigan.gov/fuelwood.