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Forest Products Permits
Forest Products
Special forest products are botanical products, other than timber, that are harvested from public land. On the Rio Grande National Forest, this includes corral poles, firewood, tipi poles, fence stays, walking sticks, Christmas trees, boughs, pinecones, medicinal plants, berries, mushrooms, transplants, native plant seeds, basket making material, and decorative plants. Rocks and minerals may be collected with a permit on the Rio Grande National Forest as well.
Permits may be required for individual gathering of products and are always required for commercial gathering of products (selling harvested products). Some permits are free, but others have a charge. Review the information below to determine if a permit is required. Permits may be purchased at any of our forest offices.
Guidelines for harvesting products
• Harvest only what you can reasonably use.
• Know your species. Collectors must avoid collecting federally listed threatened, endangered, sensitive, or proposed for listing species.
• Minimize impacts by harvesting no more than one in twenty plants from a given population.
• Do not collect specimens in Primitive, Wilderness, Research Natural, Botanical, or Scenic areas.
• If gathering roots, only collect the upper part of the root while leaving the lower portion undisturbed to improve the potential for plant survival.
• Leave the area as you found it. Fill in holes when digging transplants. When collecting roots, leave the soil on site.
• Personal use: Dead or down only, $10.00 per cord, 20 cord maximum per year per household, $20.00 minimum purchase. Permits expire December 31st of each year.
• Commercial use: Contact the nearest district office for availability of areas.
• For more information about fuelwood removal designations in the Del Norte Peak area on the Divide Ranger District view this map.
• For more information about fuelwood removal designations on the Saguache Ranger District view this map.
• For more information about fuelwood removal designations on the Conejos Peak Ranger District view this map.
• Fuelwood Informational Supplement with more information about harvesting firewood. Screen reader version.
• Personal use only: Conifers and Aspen $5.00 each, 10 trees per year per household. Trees up to 10 foot in height may be dug. $20.00 minimum purchase. Permits expire December 31st of each year.
• Transplant Informational Supplement with more information about transplanting trees. Screen reader version.
• Personal use only: $.50 per pole, 40 pole minimum each permit, 300 pole maximum per year per household.
• Saguache district only, call (719) 655-2547.
Christmas tree permits may be purchased online through recreation.gov or at a district office. To learn more about purchasing a Christmas tree permit click the button below.
Other Forest Products
Some other products, such as cones, boughs, mushrooms, flowers and walking sticks can be obtained from the Rio Grande National Forest with or without a permit. Please check the following document for more information on products, quantities, permit requirements, and fees.
Incidental Free Use Without a Permit
Small amounts of some products or quantities are allowed without a permit.
Forest Products that Require a Free Use Permit
Some products or quantities are allowed to be harvested with a free use permit. Free use permits can be picked up at your local District Office.
Forest Products that Require a Permit with a Fee
You must purchase a permit to collect more than the amounts allowed under free use. There is a $20 minimum purchase per permit.
Rocks and Minerals
You may be able to collect rocks, minerals, petrified wood, invertebrate fossils and plant fossils from National Forest System Lands with a Free Use Permit if all of the following criteria is met:
- Collected for personal use and not resale
- Gathered by hand or with nonpowered hand tools
- Quantity is limited to 250 lbs per person per year
Rock hounding (surface collecting of rocks and agates, excluding meteorites and fossils), is allowed with a Free Use Permit (36 CFR 228 (a, c)).
Meteorites found on National Forest System Lands are primarily considered objects of scientific interest. They are not available for casual collecting, and are subject to the provisions of the Antiquities Act.
Using hand held metal detector devices in the search of native metals does not require a permit (36 CFR 228 (a)). If searching for coins, historic items, treasure, etc. follow the regulations for archeological resources.
Use of hand held non-motorized implements for the separation of minerals (ie. gold, garnet etc.) from native materials does not require a permit. Removing any minerals found requires a Free Use Permit.
Motorized placer and sluicing operations require a notice of intent to be submitted to a Forest Service District Office at least 15 days in advance of operations.
Motorized Placer Operations are operations which involve motorized equipment like dredging, high banking, and trammel.
Sluicing is the use of a sluice or riffle device of any size.
This is any material remains of prehistoric or historic human life or activities, which are at least 50 years old, and includes the physical site, location, or context in which they are found (36 CFR 261.2). The collection of projectile points, pottery, or any other archeological resource or artifact is not allowed (36 CFR 261.9 (h)) without a permit. Projectile points include arrowheads and any prehistoric human-modified stone.
A fossil (paleontological) resource means any evidence of fossilized remains of multicellular invertebrate and vertebrate animals, and multicellular plants, including imprints thereof (26 CFR 261.2). There are four major types of fossils.
Ichnofossil - An imprint or trace fossil. These are typically a fossilized track, trail, burrow, or tube resulting from the life activities and behavior of an animal, including coprolites (fossil dung).
Plant Fossils - The fossilized remains of all parts of a plant. Petrified wood is wood fossilized by silica where the woody structure is visible.
Invertebrate Fossils - The fossilized remains of animals lacking a backbone such as ammonites, insects, and clams.
Vertebrate Fossils - The fossilized remains of any animal having a bony skeleton or backbone such as fish, amphibians, and birds.
Plant and invertebrate fossils, including plant and invertebrate trace fossils and petrified wood, may be collected with a Free Use Permit (36 CFR 228.62 (e), 36 CFR 291).
A permit is required for collecting for research or scientific purposes.
The collection or duplication of vertebrate fossils, and vertebrate trace fossils from National Forest System Lands requires a permit (36 CFR 269.1 (i)). Permits are only issued to qualified paleontologists.
Searching for a treasure trove requires a special use permit. This includes non-mineral related activities such as the search for and recovery of money, gems, coins, gold, of unknown ownership and purposely hidden.
Learn more about permits, processes, and collecting
A Free Use Permit is required to collect rocks, minerals, invertebrate fossils, plant fossils, invertebrate trace fossils, and petrified wood.
Up to 250 pounds per person per year of resource may be collected. 250 lbs is approximately equivalent to five 5-gallon buckets. An individual may collect any combination of rocks, minerals, fossils (as listed above), and petrified wood up to a total of 250 lbs. For an example, a person could collect 200 pounds of rocks, 20 pounds of plant fossils, 10 pounds of petrified wood, and 20 pounds of minerals during one calendar year.
Permits are issued at Rio Grande National Forest Offices.
Prior to collecting, operators should research the presence of mining claims in the area or contact the BLM.
Collecting is not permitted in Wilderness areas, Research Natural Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, developed recreation sites , Wild and Scenic Rivers, campgrounds, picnic areas, resorts, recreation management areas, Administrative sites, or existing mining claims.
All collections must be done from the surface, without digging. If digging or disturbance will occur, a notice of intent must be filed.
Permits are not issued for fossil collection for commercial purposes. Trading, bartering or selling any fossil material, rocks, or minerals obtained with a free use permit from National Forest System Lands is prohibited. Free use permits issued are for personal, hobby, educational, and noncommercial use only.
Locating Existing Claims: Existing mining claims may show up on some maps but not all. Check the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS).
Staking a Claim: The BLM oversees the process of staking claims. It is best to contact the BLM for detailed information on the process. The basics of the process include: Ensure the claim is not located on private, restricted, or already claimed land Mark the claim physically Get a certificate of the location File with the BLM and county and pay the appropriate fees
Notice of Intent: A notice of intent informs the Forest of plans for rock and/or mineral extraction. The notice includes the basics of who, what, when, and where. Operations may not begin until the notice of intent is received and approved by the District Ranger.
Plan of Operations: A plan of operations is a detailed summary of rock and/or mineral extraction on the forest. It includes measures for environmental protection and remediation when operations cease.
Respect private and public property as well as claims. Leave all collecting areas free of litter, regardless of how you found them. Know the laws, rules, and regulations governing collecting on public land. Leave all gates as you found them. Leave little to no evidence of your collection efforts. Know boundary lines of property and claims where you plan to collect. The best way to collect rock or fossil samples is with a camera. Leaving rocks and fossils in place both preserves and ensures the future enjoyment of our public lands’ geologic treasures for others.
