IRON COUNTY — Free firewood is being offered in a large portion of the Brian Head fire burn area by the Cedar City Ranger District in the Dixie National Forest. Due to the size of the area burned in the Brian Head Fire, this firewood is being offered free of charge to aid in the rehabilitation of the burn area, improve aesthetic features of the forest and benefit families in the surrounding communities.
“This is a great opportunity to help clean up after the fire while being able to gather firewood for personal use,” Cedar City District Ranger Veronica Magnuson said.
Anyone interested in harvesting this free firewood must obtain a permit with tags and designated maps, which are free of charge. These permits are only offered at two of the Dixie National Forest District offices:
- The Cedar City Ranger District office, 1789 N. Wedgewood Lane, Cedar City | Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 435-865-3200.
- The Powell Ranger District office, 225 E. Center St., Panguitch | Open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 435-676-9300.
Free firewood up to four cords per household, per calendar year, may be harvested in the free-use cutting area. The permit will include: a permit, free firewood tags, a map of the approved cutting area within the Brian Head fire area, permit conditions and instructions. The person who picks up the permit must also be present while gathering the firewood.
Cutting along Highway 143 is prohibited. Other areas excluded from free firewood collection are areas posted on the ground with signage or identified on the map as closed to firewood gathering. This includes private land, administrative sites, campgrounds, day use and picnic areas and marked timber sales.
If members of the public would like to cut firewood outside of the Brian Head fire area on Dixie National Forest land or if they wish to cut more than the four cord limit per household of free-use firewood in the Brian Head fire area, they must purchase an additional permit at a cost of $20 for four cords of firewood at any of the Dixie National Forest Offices.
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We can only wonder what the managers of the Dixie NF are doing to figure out what to do in the future to avoid the spread of wildfires. It could just as easily have been a lightening bolt, as the idiot burning weeds, starting the fire. Proactive removal of fuels and creation of firebreaks along obvious terrain features seems logical, but maybe that is too much to ask. These are federal lands, which means we have a stake in their management.
They have spent the last decades reducing fuels and creating fire breaks in the area. In fact, the ones in place along the Brian Head Fire worked very well. Dixie NF has done an amazing job with their crippled budget.
Yes they have done an great job with the dwindling budget they have to work with