NORTHERN UTAH -- It's an annual tradition: Cutting down your tree for Christmas. But in order to do it, you must get a permit.
Hundreds of people stood in line Friday morning at Soldier Hollow Lodge to get a tree cutting permit for Heber-Kamas Range District.
It cost them $10.00 each, and they only can have one per household.
The U.S. Forest Service has a few rules, including:
-Trees must be cut close to the ground
-Mo stump over six inches can be left behind
-Bring a shovel so you can dig through the snow to reach the base of the trunk
-No tree topping
-No cutting within 200 feet of lakes, streams, roads, campgrounds and summer home areas
“This is the fourth year for me,” said Brian Starkey while standing with his buddy, who has gone for 15 years to get his tree chopping permit too. “It's awesome. Last year we took home a 22-footer. It took us forever to get it out. It took over 5,000-6,000 lights, but it is a lot of fun.”
There are several other range districts where you can buy a permit. The Heber-Kamas district only hands out 2,000 permits, about 1,000 of which were claimed Friday.
Click here to get complete information on Christmas tree permits in Utah
