Permit lets you cut your own Christmas tree
Feature Story posted on December 5, 2007
It’s time to search out the family tree.
Let’s leave the quest for information about great-Uncle Abner for another day ¬¬– we’re talking about finding the perfect Christmas tree for that well-chosen corner of your home.
What you need, other than an appetite for a walk in the great outdoors on a crisp December day, is the TM66 form. This is for small-scale, non-commercial or personal access to trees. For $5, the form entitles individuals to three Christmas trees.
The TM66 form is the legal authority to harvest – in this case, Christmas trees – in specific areas as identified by Sustainable Resource Development (SRD). It is valid for 30 days and is available from local SRD offices. Click here for office locations.
Before you head out into the woods, equipped with your TM66 and trusty axe (or chainsaw), be certain of the precise location where you can and can’t cut, says SRD’s Duncan MacDonnell, stressing that tree cutters must be on Crown Land and not private property.
Local SRD offices will provide locations where you can cut your tree.
You should search out a small tree – up to seven feet – and avoid cutting trees that tower 20 feet or higher, says MacDonnell, emphasizing the wasteful nature of taking a tree that size, only to later trim it to fit that perfect location inside your home.
Making trees available for cutting during the holiday season is also a forward-thinking environmental activity.
“It helps with forestry management,’’ says MacDonnell. “We can thin out a particular area of a forest.”
Bundled up and excited about the search for a Christmas tree, your walk in the woods could be an old-fashioned holiday outing long remembered by the family.
“Be safe, be prepared for the weather and have a good time,” says MacDonnell.
Don’t forget that thermos of hot chocolate, too.
