Special Forest Products
The Olympic National Forest allows the following Special Forest Products and Forest Botanical Products to be harvested by the public for either personal or commercial use: firewood, salal, mushrooms, berries, fiddleheads (edible fern), transplants and Christmas Trees. The Forest categorizes use into three types.
Three categories of use:
- Incidental Use (No Permit Required): This Forest resource can be harvested for personal use without a permit.
- Personal Use Permit: This Forest resource requires a permit to harvest. The Forest Product is only for personal use and cannot be sold or processed into a product for sale.
- Commercial Use Permit: This Forest resource can be harvested when a permit is purchased and can be bought in addition to a "Personal Use Permit" and allows for the resource to be sold commercially or processed into a product for sale.
Indigenous Tribes on Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic National Forest is part of the traditional and accustomed use areas of many Tribes and Indigenous communities on the Olympic Peninsula. As such, maintaining access to these areas vital for hunting, fishing, gathering, and other cultural practices is of the utmost importance. Indigenous Tribes on the Olympic Peninsula may also request, and the Forest Service may provide, forest products for tribal traditional cultural purposes under the Cultural and Heritage Cooperation Authority (25 U.S.C. 3055). Contact the Olympic National Forest Tribal Relations contact for more information.
Firewood
Incidental Use: Campers on the Forest may collect downed dead wood for immediate use without a permit.
Personal Use Permit: Free, allows a person to collect up to six cords per calendar year.
Commercial Use Permit: $20, allows collection up to 10 cords per calendar year.
Salal (Brocha)
Incidental and Personal Use Prohibited
Commercial Use: $150, allows harvest up to 3,000-pounds.
Mushrooms
Incidental Use: One gallon per mushroom species per day, no more than three mushroom species collected in a day.
Commercial Use Permit:
- 14-day permit allows harvest of up to 50 gallons, fee $50.
- 30-day permit allows harvest of up to 80 gallons, fee $80.
- Calendar year permit allows harvest of up to 120 gallons, fee $120.
Transplants
Personal Use Permit:
- $2.50, allows collection of up to five seeds or seedlings
- $5, allows collection of up to five ferns.
Commercial Use Permit:
- $20, allows collection of up to 20 seeds or seedlings.
- $20, allows collection of up to 20 miscellaneous plants. (excluding protected species)
- $20, allows collection of up to 20 ferns.
Berries
Incidental Use: one gallon per day, three gallons per year.
Commercial Use is prohibited!
Fiddleheads
Incidental Use: 1 pound per person, per day.
Commercial Use Permit: $20
Christmas Tree Permits
A memorable experience, cutting a holiday tree is a special tradition to share with family and friends while helping to maintain a healthy forest.
For many families, venturing into the forest to cut a Christmas tree for the holidays is a treasured tradition carried on for generations, while others may just be discovering the thrill of searching for the perfect holiday centerpiece.