The Arizona Game and Fish Commission has authorized, by permit only, fuel wood cutting and removal on the Lamar Haines Wildlife Area.
The permits, which are free to the public, help to decrease the threat of a catastrophic wild fire, protect the area’s unique cultural and historical value and to improve the area’s wildlife habitat. The LHWA is located approximately three miles up Snow Bowl Road northwest of Flagstaff.
The public can only obtain a permit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Flagstaff regional office at 3500 Lake Mary Road. The wood cutting season opened Sept. 1 and continues through Friday, Nov. 15.
Anyone obtaining a permit must adhere to several requirements:
- All permit holders must sign an agreement and waiver of liability forms and carry the agreement form with them while cutting, gathering and transporting firewood.
- Fuel wood cutting is for personal use only and the wood may not be sold. The permit is only issued for the LHWA and does not include other department wildlife areas, public or private lands.
- Vehicle access is authorized only within the LHWA while actively engaged in wood cutting and gathering; no off-road driving is allowed.
- Fuel wood cutting is only for dead and down wood; no live standing or dead standing wood may be cut.
- All permit holders must be 18 years or older.
“The department has decided to provide this unique opportunity in an effort to maintain a healthy wildlife area, while giving the public the chance to collect free firewood,” said Rob Nelson, AZGFD habitat program manager. “There is a lot of dead and downed wood at Lamar Haines and we need help removing it.”
More detailed directions to LHWA will be available when obtaining the wood cutting permit.
The LHWA is owned by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission and consists of approximately 160 acres of relatively undeveloped old-growth forest and wet meadow.
The property was originally patented under the Homestead Act by Ludwig Veit in 1892, and purchased by the Jenks family in 1928. It was acquired by the department in 1948 as a water source for wildlife on the southwest slope of Agassiz Peak. Currently, the property is a valuable wildlife area located in old-growth forest habitat.
