About 800 cords of firewood are available on a logged-off section of Bureau of Land Management forest.

The cost is $11 per cord, six cord maximum.

The site is about seven miles northeast of Butte Falls. The wood consists of Douglas fir logs up to about 10 inches in diameter. The material is debris left over from a logging project completed last fall.

"It has been piled up with grapples so there is no dirt in it," observed Dave Orban, a BLM special forest products specialist. ``A lot of people just go up and trim off the piles."

The permits do not allow firewood gatherers to cut standing trees.

A two-wheel-drive pickup is sufficient to reach the sites as they are on flat ground, he said. However, a cable or rope may be necessary to dislodge wood from the pile.

Local residents interested in obtaining the firewood are urged to do it soon before the annual fire season begins, Orban said. Once the woods dry out and fire season starts, activities such as firewood cutting could be prohibited.

Permits, maps and specific instructions are available from the BLM offices in Medford, or Butte Falls. The Medford District office is at 3040 Biddle Road. The office is open Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.