DNR offers $20 firewood permits for state land wood gathering

A $20 fuelwood permit can put five cords of wood within reach of Iron County households trying to stretch a winter heating budget, but the bargain comes with hard limits: only dead-and-down trees, only on designated state-managed land, and only within 200 feet of a road.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says the permit is limited to one per household each year and allows collection of up to five standard cords, a stack measuring 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. The fuelwood season opens April 1, and the DNR posts updated maps before that date so collectors can see where gathering is allowed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula. Those maps are organized by forest management unit, and the wood must come from state land set aside for fuelwood collection.

For Iron County residents, the key money-saving part is simple: the permit is cheap compared with buying trucked-in firewood, especially for households that can cut, split and haul their own wood. But the permit does not open the door to unrestricted gathering. The DNR says fuelwood may be taken only from already dead and downed trees, and off-road vehicle use is not allowed. That means no ATVs or ORVs in the woods for the job, even if the wood is close by. A wheelbarrow or handcart is allowed to move wood back to a vehicle.

The permit can be purchased online, at DNR customer service centers, through some forestry field offices or by mailing an application to the DNR office that manages the land where the wood will be gathered. Once issued, the permit is valid for 90 days, but every permit expires Dec. 31 no matter when it was bought. Collectors must keep the permit with them and fill out the collection log before transporting the wood. The wood is for personal use only and cannot be sold or traded.

The state made one temporary exception in 2025 after the northern Michigan ice storm that began March 28 and knocked out roads and services across parts of the region. In 12 northern Lower Peninsula counties, permits issued there were allowed to collect up to 10 standard cords instead of five. Those counties were Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Mackinac, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego and Presque Isle. That higher limit was tied to the storm damage and did not change the standard permit rules elsewhere, including Iron County.