Rebates For Those Who Purchased Trees In Stanislaus National Forest

Sonora, CA — The cost to purchase a permit to cut down a Christmas Tree in the Stanislaus National Forest was priced higher than it was supposed to be.

Buyers were charged $20 per tree, however, the price earlier agreed upon by the Resource Advisory Committee (in March), and approved by the Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien, was $10 for calendar years 2024 and 2025, and $20 for 2026.

All existing Christmas Tree Permits will remain valid, and in the next few days, people who bought one will receive an email notification from Recreation.gov about an incoming $10 per tree refund. The money will be credited to the original bank or credit card used to pay.

“We deeply regret this error made by the forest and are working closely with our partners at Recreation.gov to ensure all those impacted by this mistake are given the refund they deserve,” says Forest Public Affairs Officer, Benjamin Cossel. “We strive to do our best to not make mistakes. But mistakes do happen and that’s why we have multiple checks in the system. Our deliberative process of checks and balances worked – we made a mistake on the forest, it was caught by our Washington Office folks, and we immediately changed the initial cost and began identifying customers impacted by this to begin the refund process for those individuals.”

The tree permit program in the Stanislaus National Forest runs through December 31.