Lotta trees in them there hills. They’re blanketed in the things, and this time of year, when every good girl and boy get a yen to put some of the outside inside, people flock to them like ants to a picnic to carry off some prime specimens. 

In fact, if you bought a permit and went out there sometime in the last couple weeks and harvested yourself a tree, you bought one out of 2,649 Six Rivers National Forest Christmas tree-cutting permits the Forest Service has sold since they went on sale in November, according to a Forest Service spokesperson who talked to the Outpost today. (If you haven’t bought a permit but want to, get one here.)  

To cut a tree down, it must have a diameter smaller than six inches and be farther than 100 feet away from a paved road or 50 feet from a dirt road. Just cutting the top off of a tree isn’t allowed. There are also some areas you’re not allowed to take from, so make sure to consult the maps on the webpage linked above before you go.