National forests in Oregon and Washington will allow people to gather and cut firewood for personal use under a new free permit program, the Forest Service announced in a press release.

The free permits only cover firewood gathered for personal use, not for resale. The minimum charge for commercial firewood cutting permits will remain $5 per cord.

“We are pleased to be able to offer free personal use firewood across the national forests in Oregon and Washington,” Regional Forester Glenn Casamassa said in the news release. “This change will benefit people who rely on firewood as their primary heat source and allow us to dispose of material that otherwise would have a cost to burn or remove.”

The program will go into effect no later than Jan. 1 in the Malheur, Deschutes, Fremont-Winema, Gifford Pinchot, Ochoco, Okanogan-Wenatchee, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests.

For more information on the free use firewood program, contact Mike Spisak, assistant regional director of natural resources for the Forest Service, at michael.spisak@usda.gov.