The Wallowa Whitman and Umatilla national forests will receive $2.7 million to improve forest resiliency, reduce long-term costs of fire management and improve watershed conditions across Northeast Oregon and Southeast Washington.

LA GRANDE — People will be allowed to cut and remove firewood for free in two Northeast Oregon national forests beginning Friday.

The Wallowa-Whitman and the Umatilla national forests will begin providing authorization for free personal-use firewood cutting for up to four cords of wood. The Forest Service’s standard charge to cut a cord of wood for personal use in the Umatilla or Wallowa-Whitman national forests is $5 a cord with a required minimum purchase of four cords.

“This is not a huge cost, but we realize that folks are hurting and we want to eliminate this cost. That is our guiding light. There are a lot of people experiencing challenging times now,” said Travis Mason-Bushman, a public affairs officer for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

The free firewood will be available through June 1.

A cord of cut wood is 128 cubic feet, which is 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long.

For an electronic authorization packet for the Wallowa-Whitman, send an email to to SM.FS.wwnf-webmail@usda.gov with the subject: “Firewood Authorization.” Include your name and city of residence in the email, and National Forest staff will reply with an authorization form and 2020 firewood guide in PDF format.

An authorization packet for the Umatilla National Forest may be requested electronically by sending an email to r6_umatilla_public_inquiries@fs.fed.us. A Forest employee will assist individuals with completing proper documentation to receive the electronic authorization packet.

Forest users also can obtain free firewood cutting authorization packets from several local businesses. Authorization packets are available for the Umatilla National Forest from stores including Elgin Food Town, Athena Convenience Store, Zip Zone 2 in Milton-Freewater and Rhode’s Supply in Ukiah.

Free firewood cutting authorization packets for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest can be obtained at businesses including The Dollar Stretcher in Enterprise, the Sports Corral in Joseph and D&B Supply in Baker City.

Authorization packets are limited to one per person and only to those age 18 and older.

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest officials urge the public to plan ahead and contact their local Ranger District prior to starting their trip, according to the news release.

Many forest roads are still not accessible due to mud and snow.

The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest on Friday reported the public response to the free firewood authorization program has been overwhelming and staff is working hard to process requests in the order they are received.

“There may be a delay in issuing these authorizations due to limited staff capacity,” according to the press release from the Wallowa-Whitman. “In addition, forest offices and vendors may run out of copies of paper authorizations; we will work to resupply them as quickly as possible.”

The local national forest apologized for the inconvenience and urged the public to be patient and respectful of the permit-issuance staff as they work to meet this high volume of interest.