CASCADE, Idaho — Now that the fire season is slowly coming to an end, the topic of firewood for winter is in full swing. And now, starting on Friday, the Cascade Ranger District has an offer you can’t refuse.
- Get a free fuelwood tag that you can attach to your load.
- Piles of wood will start showing up on back country roads.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
District Ranger Chris Bentley says he's excited about this offer. “We’re going to start offering free wood fuel permits out of the district office. People will be able to collect ten chords of wood by coming into the office to get the tags and then just attach those tags to your load and you should be good to go.”
Bentley says because of all the forest land that burned in his district, they can provide this service. A map will clearly point you in the right direction. The Cascade Ranger District is making up to ten cords of wood available for you to take home. You simply pick up the permit in Cascade, drive up a road like Clear Creek and there will be wood stack along the road that you can throw in and take home.
Bentley tells me to be patient before trekking up into the woods, because it may be still a couple of weeks before the stacked wood is there. And be on the lookout for fire mop-up crews.
“This year we had a lot of firefighting activities that included fuel breaks around roads and it’s a real common practice that firefighters use to stop oncoming flames," said Bentley. "They cut smaller trees and sometimes when they do that, they leave stacks of wood right along the roadside that are really accessible, so we decided this year to direct the public to some of those piles."
Remember to have the right tools and saws, and bring eye, ear and hand protection.
