A valid Free Use Permit is required to cut firewood on Crown Land in BC, including the areas within the North Island Community Forest. Permits are available through the NICC Resource District website.
Please be mindful of where you harvest. As a small tenure holder, the NICF is highly impacted by poaching and unlawful firewood harvest. Large patches of windfallen trees are often salvaged by the NICF to generate revenue, which is invested back into the North Island Communities. The legal permitting process can delay the salvage of these areas. During active harvest operations, the NICF will make an effort to pile logging slash close to roadsides to allow for easy firewood harvest. If you are curious about the locations of recent harvesting or if an area is planned for salvage logging, please contact the NICF manager at manager@nicf.ca
To apply for your Free Use permit please visit the BC government webpage.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource-use/natural-resource-permits/firewood-permits
Permits specific to the North Island can be found here:
https://forms.gov.bc.ca/industry/north-island-central-coast-natural-resource-district-firewood-permit/